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SERMONS. 



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SERMONS 



BY 



/ 

SIR HENRY MONCREIFF WELLWOOD, Ba£ X . 



D. D. AND F. R. S. EDINBURGH, 

ONE OF THE MINISTERS OF ST CUTHBERTS, EDINBURGH ; 
AND SENIOR CHAPLAIN IN ORDINARY IN SCOTLAND 
TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS, THE 
PRINCE OF WALES. 



THIRD EDITION. 



EDINBURGH: 

PRINTED BY ALEX. SMELLIE, 
Printer to the University, 
FOR WILLIAM WHYTE, AND JOHN ANDERSON 8c CO. 
EDINBURGH ; 

AND LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME & LROWN, LONDON. 



1815. 



TO 

THE CONGREGATION 

OF 

THE CHURCH OF St CUTHBERT'S* 
THIS VOLUME 
IS RESPECTFULLY 

AFFECTIONATELY 
INSCRIBED BY 



//3 



THE AUTHOR. 



a 



PREFACE, 



The writers of sermons have some disad- 
vantages to combat which no other authors 
experience in the same degree. 

The subjects, to which they solicit the 
attention of the public, cannot be new ; 
and, at this late period of the Christian 
Church, even novelty of illustration is 
scarcely to be expected. 

But, were it easy to surmount the preju- 
dices of those, to whom novelty is the first 

a 2 



Viii PREFACE. 

attraction ; or possible to disarm the seve- 
rity of fastidious criticism, the writers of 
sermons have to encounter an obstacle still 
more formidable. There is a persuasion 
which very generally prevails among some 
classes of men, and especially among those 
who have the least reason to adopt it, that 
every thing which a sermon can contain is 
already familiar to them ; and that it is 
equally unprofitable and unpleasant, to 
bestow their attention on subjects, of 
which they have long had sufficient infor- 
mation. 

This prejudice is unhappily supported by 
the resistance given to the influence of re- 
ligion, by the passions and the spirit of the 
world. He who is unwilling to subject 



PREFACE. ix 

himself to the obligations of Christianity, 
is certainly ill-prepared to receive satisfac- 
tion from truths or admonitions, which 
contradict the habits of his life : And those 
who derive their happiness from sources 
very remote from religion, readily find rea- 
sons for pronouncing that to be unneces- 
sary or useless, which they have always 
found by experience to be an ungrateful or 
an irksome task. 

But if the writers of sermons labour un- 
der these difficulties, there are other consi- 
derations which will be admitted to have 
some effect to counterbalance them. 

The subjects, which they profess to dis- 
cuss, are of perpetual importance to man- 
kind, and involve their most permanent in- 



X PREFACE. 

terests. And though the truths of religion 
are always the same, the manners of the 
world and the characters of men, to which 
they ought to be applied, are subject to 
perpetual variations. Though the same 
doctrines and duties are inculcated in the 
present age, which were preached in the 
age of the apostles; and though nothing 
can be added either to their substance or 
to their authority ; it is of the last impor- 
tance to direct them to the consciences of 
men in every age, and to their living man- 
ners : To combat the circumstances which 
rise in succession to obstruct their influ- 
ence, and to take advantage of the va- 
riety of facts and events, which occur in 
the progress of human affairs, by which 
they can be enforced or illustrated. 



PREFACE. XI 

Though persuasion is in general more the 
aim of sermons than direct information, a 
great proportion of the knowledge which 
the people at large possess, they certainly 
acquire by means of the Christian institu- 
tions for public instruction. Those who 
are most disinclined to the perusal of ser- 
mons, and who affect to consider the topics 
to which they relate, either as unimportant 
or as already familiar to them, are not sel- 
dom the persons who stand most in need 
of the admonitions which they contain. 
Though an author should not be able to 
give them novelty, either of subject or of 
illustration, if he is only successful in stat- 
ing clearly and forcibly, to their conviction, 
the duties of religion in connexion with 
their legitimate motives, his labours must 



XU PREFACE. 

be allowed, by every wise and dispassionate 
man, to possess an utility, altogether inde- 
pendent of the science and learning, which 
may distinguish the period of the world in 
which he writes. 

The author of the following sermons pre- 
sumes not to think, that they have any pe- 
culiar claims to the attention of the public. 
He addresses them chiefly to the congrega- 
tion, for whom they were originally pre- 
pared. Of the thirty-four years during 
which he has held the office of a minister, 
he has officiated during thirty among them. 
To promote their present and eternal in- 
terests ought to be the object of his life : 
And, accustomed, as they are, to his man- 
ner of stating the doctrines and the duties 



PREFACE. 



xiii 



of religion, he allows himself to believe, 
that, among them this volume will neither 
be useless nor unacceptable. 

He trusts he has as much purity of in- 
tention, as to be more solicitous for the 
usefulness, than for the reputation or popu- 
larity of his book. But he has at least en- 
deavoured to render the language and ar- 
rangement perspicuous, and, when they 
have occurred to him, to avoid provincial 
peculiarities ; though perhaps in many in- 
stances without success. He is sensible, 
indeed, that a provincial ear (if that ex« 
pression can be allowed) has frequently 
misled him ; and he did not perceive some 
of the mistakes which it has occasioned^ 
till it was too late to correct them. 



Xiv PREFACE. 

It will be observed, that in two or three 
of the following sermons, some of the same 
topics are incidentally introduced. Of this 
the author is fully aware ; and it was in 
some degree unavoidable, in sermons pre- 
pared at very different times. But, if he 
is not mistaken, in the few instances in 
which the same truths are repeated, the 
illustrations are not the same, nor the pur- 
poses to which they are applied. 

With regard to the subjects illustrated 
in this volume, he has only to add, that it 
has been his chief object, to represent the 
doctrines and the duties of Christianity as 
inseparably united, in the faith and prac- 
tice of those who embrace it. Practical 
religion is of much more importance than 



PREFACE. XV 

the solution of difficult questions ; and the 
sanctification and salvation of those who 
profess to believe the gospel, than the 
soundest opinions. 

H. M. W. 



Edinburgh, February 13. 1805, 



CONTENTS, 



SERMON I. 

On the Unequal allotments of Providence. 

I. Cor. iv. 7» 

Who maketh thee to differ from another? « Page 1, 
SERMON II. 

On the Minute Improvement of the Blessings of 
Providence. 

St John, vi. 12. 
Jesus said to his disciples, Gather up the fragments that re- 
main, that nothing be lost. Page 38, 

SERMON III. 

On Self Denial 
St Luke, ix. !23« 
Jesus said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him 
deny himself. - -»^«---«-« Page 70. 



CONTENTS. 



SERMON IV. 
On the Form of Godlbiess. 

II. Timothy, iii. 5. 
Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof : 
from such turn away. ------- Page 102. 

SERMON V. 

On Christian Faith and Morality. 
Philippians, i. 27. 
— That ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving 
together for the faith of the gospel. - - - Page 135. 

SERMON VI. 
On the Remit of Good and of Bad Affections. 

ECCLESIASTES, ix. 6. 

Their love and their hatred and their envy is. now perished; 
neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing 
that is done under the sun. ----- Page l6S* 

SERMON VII. 
On the Inheritance of a Good Mans Children. 

Proverbs, xiii. 22. 
h good man. leave th an inheritance to his children's children. 

Page 203, 

SERMON VIIL 
On the Doctrine of Grace. 

Romans, v. 20. 
Whe^e sin abounded, grace did much more abound. Page 235. 



CONTENTS. 



SERMON IX. 
On the Conduct of Providence to Good Men. 

Romans, viii. 28. 
^Ve know that all things work together for good to them that 
love God 5 to them who are the called according to his 
purpose. - - - - - - - - - - - Page 2^2. 

SERMON X. 

On the General Spirit and Effects of Christianity. 

Luke, vii. 19. 21. 22. 
And John calling unto him two of his disciples, sent them 
unto Jesus, saying, Art thou he that should come, or look 
we for another ? And in that same hour he cured many of 
their infirmities and plagues and of evil spirits j and unto 
many that were blind he gave sight. Then Jesus answer- 
ing, said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what 
things ye have seen and heard, how that the blind see, the 
lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead 
are raised ; to the poor the gospel is preached. Page 305» 

SERMON XL 
On the Universal Promulgation of Christianity* 

Matthew, xxiv. 14. 
And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the 
world, for a witness to all nations, and then shall the end 
come. - - - -- -- -- -- - Page 35& 

SERMON XII. 

The same subject continued, from the same text. Page 



CONTENTS. 



SERMON XIII. 

Prospects of Futurity. 
Matthew, xxvii. 29» 
I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the 
vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my 
Father's kingdom. = ..... Page 41 3» 

SERMON XIV. 

On the Cultivation of Personal Religion. 
Jude, 20. 21. 

But: ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy 
faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the 
love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus 
Christ,, unto eternal life. =■ Page 44 &, 



SERMON I 



ON 

THE UNEQUAL ALLOTMENTS OF 
PROVIDENCE. 



1 CORINTHIANS, iv. 7. 

" Who maketh thee to differ from another T 

T here is no blessing of nature, of providence, 
or of religion, which mankind have ever pos- 
sessed, which has not been unequally bestowed 
on them. 

All the plans of Providence, and every por- 
tion of the knowledge or advantages imparted to 
men, have been laid open by degrees : One dis- 
trict of the world enjoying an extent of infor- 
mation, or of prosperity, from which the neigh- 
bouring countries have been completely exclu- 
ded : the same people possessing more in one 

A 



2 THE UNEQUAL ALLOTMENTS SER. 1. 



age, than they have been permitted to trans- 
mit to the ages following : and one generation 
of men pursuing their advantages far beyond 
the limits which had been prescribed to their fa- 
thers. 

Even the dispensations of religion, and the 
revelations of God for the instruction and salva- 
tion of mankind, have, in the wisdom of hea- 
ven, been published and perfected by many de- 
grees, through successive ages. They were at 
first, in a great measure, confined to the pro- 
mises which were given to the patriarchs. They 
were afterwards more minutely unfolded to Mo- 
ses and the prophets, who " testified beforehand 
the sufferings of Christ, and the glory which 
should follow*." Almost every portion of sub- 
stantial knowledge on the subject was confined 
for ages to one country of the world ; while, for 
aught we know, the people of every other dis- 
trict blindly followed their idolatries. A ge- 
neral promulgation of the doctrines of revela- 
tion was not permitted till " the fulness of time" 
predicted, when the Son of God was sent from 



* 1 Peter, i. 11, 



SER. h 0F PROVIDENCE. 3 

heaven to become "a light to enlighten the Gen- 
tiles," and " salvation to the ends of the earth." 

From that time the gospel was preached " for 
the faith of all nations ;f though it has been re- 
ceived with very different degrees of advantage 
in different countries, and has not, even at this 
remote period, reached every habitation of men. 
It was early, and almost entirely, withdrawn 
from the countries in which it was first planted ; 
and has been with-held from many generations 
of those whose fathers had once received it. 

A minute attention to the history of the 
world would suggest to us an immense variety 
of facts, to demonstrate, That the distribution of 
advantages, civil and religious, has been univer- 
sally unequal ; and has been subject to perpe- 
tual variations in every age and country. Suc- 
cessive generations have lived and died in the 
worst and in the best conditions of human life ; 
the objects of the most limited or of the most 
liberal distribution of the gifts of providence ; 
following the most abject superstitions, or re- 
ceiving the knowledge of salvation from Christ 
and his apostles, " to guide their feet into the 
way of peace." 

a 2 



4 



THE UNEQUAL ALLOTMENTS SEIi. 1. 



The same fact may be stated from the circum- 
stances of individuals, even when their external 
situations are extremely similar: From the di- 
versity in their original talents and dispositions; 
from the advantages or the defects of their early 
education ; from the local or the domestic bless- 
ings which they possess, or which are not al- 
lotted them ; from the prosperity or the cala- 
mities which accompany their progress through 
life; from the grace which is given them, or 
which they do not attain. 

The unequal distribution of the gifts of God 
is a fact impressively written on every condition 
of human life, on the personal endowments of 
men, and on all their observation and expe- 
rience. 

There are few subjects, to which we ap- 
ply our understandings, in which we can at- 
tempt to do more, than to ascertain the facts on 
which they depend, and to deduce from them 
the practical lessons which they ought to teach 
us. 

It is impossible for us to know, and in vain 
to inquire, why God has given a clearer reve- 
lation to the later than to the earlier ages ; or 



SER. 1. 



OF PROVIDENCE. 



5 



better blessings to one country than to another ; 
or greater advantages, or more special grace, to 
one individual than to his neighbour. 

But the practical instruction resulting from the 
facts, which ought to determine our personal 
condiier, is equally obvious and forcible. It is 
natur&lly suggested to us by the question stated 
in ttie textj i " Who hath made thee to differ 
frofifa^othep?" 

e consideration of the authority, under 
which we receive and possess whatsoever dis- 
tinguishes our conditions, goes deep into the 
dirVfes and obligations of the present life, and 
leads our thoughts directly to the utiinate ac- 
count, which shall be required of our conduct. 

% - - ' .1 

I shall endeavour to illustrate the practical in- 
struction which the question in this text ought 
to bring home to us, by shewing, 

1. That the consideration of the authority of 
God, under which we are all equally placed, 
notwithstanding the variety in our conditions, 
ought to teach us an implicit acquiescence in 
the duties <and, in the lot assigned us. 

2. That our obligation to cultivate, and our 
danger from the perversion of the^Ble&rrogs we 



6 THE UNEQUAL ALLOTMENTS SER. 1. 



have received, are exactly the same, whatever 
our portion of advantages is. And, 

3. That the sentence, which shall at last be 
pronounced on our conduct at the tribunal of 
God, will have a special relation to the advan- 
tages which have been given, or have been deni- 
ed us ; and to the condition in which every in- 
dividual has served God, or has tinned against 
him. I am to shew, 

1. That the consideration of the authority of 
God, under which we are all equally placed, 
notwithstanding the variety in our conditions, 
ought to teach us ah implicit acquiescence in the 
duties and in the lot' assigned us. 

There is no situation of human life, which 
has not its peculiar disadvantages or hardships. 
While we perceive the blessings which are deni- 
ed to us, and are given to others, or experience 
the difficulties from which they are exempted, 
we are in danger of indulging a dissatisfaction, 
or a chagrin, very unsuitable to our dependence 
on the government of God. " Why should I 
be doomed to perpetual toil and labour (will 
the querulous spirit sometimes say), to procure 
bread to myself or to my children ; while my 



SER. 1. OF PROVIDENCE. 7 

neighbour has only to enjoy that which others 
have provided for him, and has no, fear that, his 
resources shall fail ?" Or, " Why have I been 
placed in a situation which has effectually de- 
barred me from the opportunities of acquiring 
the knowledge, or the wealth, or the success in 
life, so liberally bestowed on the family of my 
neighbour? Why should my duties constantly 
lie, where I have every thing to suffer, and little 
to expect; among those who can make me no 
return, or who are themselves the instruments 
of the severity of my lot? Why should the du- 
ties of this life be allowed to press so hard on 
me, to whom so small a portion is allotted of 
its comforts or advantages ; while the duties of 
those around me are attached to situations in 
which they are supported by associates, who 
add to their resources, and cheer their habita- 
tions, enjoying blessings which they have not 
earned, or the calm satisfactions of domestic 
liter 

Questions such as these, which the querulous- 
ness or impatience of individuals suggests to them, 
from the unequal allotment of situations which 
cannot be the same, are completely answered to 



THE UNEQUAL ALLOTMENTS SER. ]» 



a man of deliberate reflection, by a single ques- 
tion opposed to them: " Who hath made thee 
to differ from thy neighbour?" Not the will of 
man, or his arrangements; not the caprice or 
the injustice of the world. The Almighty 
Creator and Lord of heaven and earth hath 
given thee thy place, and selected thy duties ; he 
" who hath made of one blood all the nations 
of men, — and hath determined the bounds of 
their habitations;" to whose purpose every crea- 
ture is subservient. Thy neighbours blessings 
and his prosperity are his gifts ; and so is every 
thing which softens thy sorrow, which com- 
forts thy dwelling, which alleviates thy burden, 
which helps thy infirmities, or which cheers 
thy labours. It is impossible to murmur against 
him, who must have the entire distribution of 
his own gifts; who regulates and proportions 
them by the rules of infinite wisdom, and by 
means and ends unsearchable to us ; and whose 
tender mercies predominate in the worst condi- 
tions of human life. 

The universality of unequal distribution, at- 
tested by the indelible memorials of every age 
and country, takes away every source of indivi- 



SER. 1. OF PROVIDENCE. 9 

dual complaint; and ought to teach us the most 
entire acquiescence in our personal lot. 

The private circumstances of men are not to be 
considered merely in the separate or disjointed 
forms in which they affect their personal feci*- 
ings. They constitute an essential part of one 
general and extended plan with regard to the 
intelligent creation, carried cn by the wisdom 
and sovereignty of God, from the beginning of 
ages to the end of time. 

When wc fix quv attention on this point, we 
feel that we^arc, in our own situations, appoint- 
ed to become. " fellow workers together with 
God," to promote or to be sabservknfc to the 
ends c/f his universal government? by means of 
our individual fidelity : And we must be con- 
scious that the diversity, both of our conditions 
and of our talents, must subsist, till the duties 
of our several departments in the great plan of 
heaven shall be completed ; and till we shall be 
capable of a higher sphere of service, among 
those who have e 4 finished their .course" in suc- 
cession before us. 

This consideration ought to be sufficient to 
check every murmur as it rises, even though 



10 



THE UNEQUAL ALLOTMENTS SER. 1. 



we were able to perceive none of the reasons 
which determine the unequal allotments of pro- 
vidence. 

But I add, that though a great part of the 
plan of providence is of necessity beyond our 
reach, we have as much knowledge of it as 
ought to convince us, that our acquiescence is as 
reasonable in itself, as it is essential to the sub- 
jection which we owe to God. 

Every man's understanding informs him, that 
the duties of human life could never be fulfilled, 
if all men had the same offices, or the same 
place, or the same advantages ; and that the di- 
versity of gifts, of talents, and of situations, is 
adapted by the wisdom of God to the diversity 
of duties assigned to individual men. It is not 
less evident, that different characters, different 
dispositions, and different virtues, could neither 
be tried nor disciplined by the same means, or 
by the same duties, or in the same conditions. 
We can therefore have no more right to com- 
plain of the varieties in our lot, than of the ob- 
vious differences in our talents and capacities^ or 
in the duties which we are required to fulfil. 
The diversity has in every instance the same 



SER. 1. 



OF PROVIDENCE. 



11 



ultimate source, whatever the means or the in- 
struments may be by which it is ascertained 
or promoted. Though our situations are often 
varied and determined by our personal conduct, 
or by the conduct and the passions of other 
men, whom God employs as the instruments of 
his purpose; we are as much bound to submit 
to that which God permits in the general order 
of human affairs, as to acquiesce in that which 
he specially appoints; and have good reasons 
to believe, that the effect is in both cases sub- 
servient to the same ultimate end — the glory 
" of him who worketh all in all." " Surely the 
wrath of man shall praise thee," says the Scrip- 
ture; " the remainder of wrath thou wilt re 
strain*." 

These examples may serve as specimens of 
the reasons of unequal distribution, which are 
not quite beyond our observation. A man, 
whose judgment is enlightened by his faith in 
God, may discern many others ; and may fol* 
low much farther the minute relations which 
these bear to one another, and to the obligation 



* Psalm lxxvi. 10. 



12 THE UNEQUAL ALLOTMENTS SER. U 

which lies on his conscience to acquiesce impli- 
citly in the lot assigned him. 

Much must no doubt remain unknown, on a 
subject which resolves itself into the wisdom of 
God. Our imbecility or ignorance will always 
perplex us with difficulties, or with apparent 
contradictions, when we presumptuously attempt 
to fathom the depths of infinite perfections. But 
he, who clearly perceives that the unequal al- 
lotments of providence are demonstrated by 
facts, alike prominent and impressive in the 
dispensations of religion, and in the course of 
human life, will feel his indispensible obligation 
to repress every murmur as it rises; to keep his 
mind steadily attached to the duties of his own 
place ; and to acquiesce with humility and re- 
verence in the wisdom which is beyond his 
search. He cannot have a reason to complain 
of the inequality which afreets himselfj while he 
knows, on the one hand, that the greatest of all 
the gifts of God " was hid from ages and gene- 
rations," was brought to light by many grada- 
tions, and has been withheld from multitudes 
of the human race, in the latest times : Or 
while he is conscious, on the other hand, that 



SER. I. OF PROVIDENCE. 13 



it is a fact which no man's understanding will 
permit him to deny, that the same unequal dis- 
tribution has adhered to the endowments of our 
nature, as well as to every blessing of this life, 
from the beginning of the world to the present 
time, in every nation under heaven, and in every 
family of the earth. 

A good man's confidence in the plan of God, 
restrains and supersedes the anxiety of mind 
which would destroy his happiness, and leaves 
him only duties and obligations to fulfil ; while 
it teaches him to commit the result of eve- 
ry thing to God, and to trust all his per- 
sonal interests implicitly and devoutly in his 
hands. 

We shall have another view of the practical 
instruction suggested in the text, by consider- 
ing* 

2. That, notwithstanding the inequality of 
distribution, our obligation to cultivate and our 
danger from the perversion of the blessings we 
have received, are exactly the same, whatever 
our portion of advantages is. 

It is no argument against our obligation to 
fulfil our real duties^ that we do not possess ei- 



14 THE UNEQUAL ALLOTMENTS SER. 1. 



ther the opportunities or the talents of other 
men. Our duties ought to come home to our 
consciences, according to the authority which 
enforces them, and in proportion to the means 
which we possess of fulfilling them. If our 
means are limited, our duties have a precise cor- 
respondence to them ; and our obligations are 
as indispensible, and are as inseparably attached 
to our situations when our advantages are few, 
as when we have received a thousand talents 
above our fellows. If we are destitute of the 
endowments which they possess, we are bound 
to consider, not why we have received so little, 
but how we shall be able to cultivate the full 
extent of the talents which have been given us ; 
not why a difficult duty is assigned us, but how 
that difficult duty shall best be fulfilled ; not 
why we hold a lower place, or have less know- 
ledge, or more limited talents, or less prosperity, 
than other men ; but how we shall most effec- 
tually render our place subservient to the glory 
of God, and to the useful and faithful applica- 
tion of the advantages which we possess. The 
obligation is precisely the same, whether we have 



SER. 1. 



OF PROVIDENCE. 



15 



received much or little; and is in every instance 
equally indispensible. 

On the other hand, the danger of perversion 
is also exactly the same, whatever our portion 
of advantages is.' The neglect or abuse of the 
meanest endowments, and the violation of the 
duties of the lowest place, are followed by ef- 
fects as real on the conduct of human life, and 
on its final results, as could have arisen from 
the perversion of the greatest talents, in the most 
distinguished conditions. 

He who is unfaithful in the lowest offices 
obstructs the business and the duties of human 
life, with as much certainty, though not in the 
same degree, as he who violates the duties of 
the most conspicuous station ; and the impartial 
Judge, who has given to each his place, shall 
pronounce sentence on the guilt of both with 
the same severity, although with circumstances 
adapted to their separate obligations. " Every 
man shall ultimately bear his own burden;" 
" and there is no respect of persons with God." 
We shall answer to God for the least as well as 
for the greatest violations of our personal duties; 
and for the precise use to which our talents have 



16 THE UNEQUAL ALLOTMENTS SER. 1. 



been applied, whether they have been many or 
few. On the other hand, if God shall accept 
our service in the lowest departments, or with 
the most limited advantages of human beings, 
we are as certain that its final consequence or 
result shall be eternal happiness in the king- 
dom of God, as we could have been, if our 
sphere of duty had been given us among pro* 
phets and apostles. 

How impressive is the doctrine which brings 
home to us this persuasion ! How effectually 
should it operate on our minds, to stir us up to 
godliness and to good works; and to stimulate 
or confirm our ardour in our personal duties ; 
that nothing may be found to have been ne- 
glected, that nothing essential to them may be 
wanting, and that no advantage, which ought 
to have been applied to them, may appear to 
have been lost when our probation shall be fi- 
nished. How irresistible should the motive be, 
which this doctrine urges on our consciences, 
to persuade us to abide steadily by the place and 
by the duties assigned us, according to the in- t 
tention of him who has selected them ; whilst 



SER. 1. OF PROVIDENCE. 17 

we look forward to their final result and effects 
in the kingdom of God I 

The interests of every individual are deeply 
involved in this view of the subject. We shall 
receive the result of the most inferior talents 
which we have faithfully used, with as much 
certainty as the effect of the greatest ; and shall 
as certainly suffer for the perversion of the least 
as of the best endowments. In like manner, 
those to whom God has given a superior un- 
derstanding, or greater wealth, or more exten- 
sive talents, or more knowledge, or better op- 
portunities, or more enlightened views, or 
stronger impressions of religion than have been 
vouchsafed to other men, have received all these 
advantages, as the means of discharging their 
personal duties, and of accomplishing their pro- 
bation in this life : And the result of their con- 
duct in the application of them must be eternal* 

There is an awful admonition to prosperous 
men, contained in the parabolical address of 
Abraham to the rich man who "lifted up his 
eyes in hell." ft Son, remember that thou in 
thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and like- 
wise Lazarus evil things ; but now he is com- 

B 



18 



THE UNEQUAL ALLOTMENTS SER. I. 



forted, and thou art tormented*." What an im- 
pressive lesson is this, to him whose cup is full, 
and whose probation is not yet completed ! To 
rouse him to a purer, to a more earnest, to a 
more faithful service than he has. yet fulfilled ; 
to convince him of the responsibility under 
which his peculiar talents have placed him ; and 
to teach him to rest his satisfactions, far less in 
the possession of superior advantages, than in 
the attainment of the legitimate ends to which 
they ought to be applied. 

He is happy, indeed, whom God has prosper- 
ed on the earth, and blessed with many talents, 
if he has faithfully used them in the fear of God, 
and has neither received nor enjoyed them in 
vain. The use to which he has applied the sta- 
tion assigned him, creates a distinction for him, 
far greater than the mere possession of any advan- 
tages could have given him; and to him the re- 
sult is certain, and is permanent in the kingdom 
of heaven, His faith shall not fail when his 
strength is gone. He shall find his place where 
the faithful live for ever, and where "they t 
shine as the stars in the firmament of God." 

' * Luke xvi. 25. 



§ER. 3. OF PROVIDENCE. 19 

But it is impossible not to add, that he is 
truly wretched and debased, who follows out 
steadily or conscientiously no part of the ser» 
vice assigned him; or who deliberately or ha- 
bitually turns his capacities or his advantages, 
be they great or small, against his knovyn and 
essential duties ; who, though he has possessed 
talents sufficient to have enabled him to glorify 
God in his own condition, has, with perhaps a 
few exceptions (as the worst of men will sorne^ 
times act. from pure intentions), spent his life 
without principle, without fidelity, without 
usefulness, " without Qod, arid withoiit hope 
in the world." Whatever his sphere of duty 
may be at present, his last portion must be gi- 
ven him among the most wretched of the hu- 
man race. The term of probation is short, but 
its consequences last for ever. 

There is still one branch of the subject re- 
maining. I have to shew, 

3. T nat tne sentence which shall at last be 
pronounced on our conduct, at the tribunal of 
God, will have a special relation to the advan- 
tages which have been given, or have been de« 



20 THE UNEQUAL ALLOTMENTS SER. L 

nied us, and to the condition in which every 
individual has served God, or has sinned against 
him. 

Our original ideas of the perfections of God, 
and of his immutable justice, are sufficient to. sa- 
tisfy us, that our talents and advantages are in 
general the measure of our duties, and must have 
an intimate relation to the account which we 
shall render to God, 

We go a step farther, when we consider the 
rules by w r hich the principles of our nature lead 
us invariably to form our estimate of one ano- 
ther. We do not require from any man servi- 
ces which we are sensible he has not the means 
of fulfilling, or the use of talents which we 
know he does not possess. We do not judge 
with equal severity of the same defects in an 
ignorant and in a well-informed man : or take 
the same view of the extent of duties, common 
to both, which they have very different means 
of discharging. We distinguish exactly betwixt 
the ignorance which is invincible, and that kind 
of incapacity which is the effect of deliberate 
negligence and perversion. We estimate the 
fidelity of men, in all situations, by the oppor- 



SER. 1, 



OF PROVIDENCE. 



'2.1 



tunities which they might have used, and do not 
in any instance connect it with those which were 
entirely beyond their reach. As far as morality 
is concerned, the diversity of our talents is uni- 
formly taken into our account, when we are 
judging among ourselves of good conduct or 
demerit. 

The impressions of justice with regard to one 
another, which are engraven on our minds, 
although, from our ignorance of human cha- 
racters, they are often misapplied, are original 
memorials within us, of the laws by which our 
personal conduct shall be judged at the tribunal 
of God. 

There is another fact in the history of human 
life, which we ought to consider as confirming 
them. Our talents grow in our possession, in 
some proportion to the ardour with which we 
employ them : And, on the other hand, we lose 
the advantages which we had received, when 
we have either neglected to cultivate them at - 
the proper season, or have not applied them to 
their legitimate ends, or have perverted them 
to purposes contrary to the design for which 
they were bestowed on us. We reap the ef- 



22 THE UNEQUAL ALLOTMENTS skfe. 1. 

fects of our activity, With more certainty, than 
even the result of our original endowments; 
and suffer more from the perversion of talents, 
than even from the want of them. 

Facts of this kind, of which every man feels 
the impression, because they are inseparable 
from our conditions as intelligent creatures, serve 
as a perpetual pledge and memorial, of the rela- 
tion which the last sentence to be pronounced 
oh bur conduct shall bear, not only to the pre- 
cise advantages which have been given or de- 
nied us, but to our personal improvement or 
perversion of them. 

I do not mention them as arguments or spe- 
culations : I mention them as facts, which il- 
lustrate the moral government of God ; which 
have an intimate relation to its final result; and 
which (as I am now to shew) accord exactly 
with the precise and definite explanations given 
us by the gospel. 

In our Lord's parable of the talents, related 
in the 25th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew*, 
he represents those who have equally cultivated 

* Matthew xxv. 14—30, 



t 

SE R. 1 . OF PROVIDENCE. £3 

very unequal talents, as receiving each a reward 
in proportion to the talents which were given 
him : He who had received five talents, is de- 
scribed as accounting for five ; he who had two, 
as accounting for two ; and both are represented 
as attaining the result of their fidelity, in pro- 
portion to the account which was required of 
them. On tbe other hand, he who had receiv- 
ed but one talent, is made to account as strict- 
ly for that one, as he could have been required 
to account if he had received five ; and he suf- 
fers the punishment incurred by the perversion 
of one, with as much severity as could have 
been applied to him, if he had possessed and 
perverted all the talents which had been given 
to his fellow-servants. He is condemned, not 
because he did not gain two or five talents, but 
because, having but one talent to employ, he 
did not gain, or endeavour to gain, one talent 
more ; because the single advantage which was 
given him was neglected, or was " hidden in 
the earth," in contempt of his Lord's authority. 

No illustration can be more pointed or exact, 
than this is, of the strict and definite account 
which shall be demanded of us at the tribunal 



TfTE UNEQUAL ALLOTMENTS SER. 1. 



of God, of the precise situations in which we 
have acted, and of our personal application of 
the peculiar talents which have been entrusted 
to us. 

Our Lord has given us another example to 
illustrate the same doctrine* from the rules by 
Which we form our estimate of one another; 
He mentions the fact, that " to whom men 
have committed much, of him they will ask 
the more;" and uses it to illustrate the con- 
dust of God to " the servant who knew his 
will," and to him who did not know it. ft That 
servant," he says* " which knew his Lord's 
will, and prepared not himself, neither did ac- 1 
cording to his will, shall be beaten with many 
stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit 
things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with 
few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is 
given, of him shall much be required; and to 
whom men have committed much, of him they 
will ask the more." 

He is not guiltless who sins in ignorance, if 
the means of better information are within his 



* Luke xii. 4/. 48- 



S£R. 1. 



OF PROVIDENCE. 



reach ; and he suffers in proportion to the guilt 
of a criminal ignorance or negligence. But, in 
comparison with him who has sinned against 
his conscience, or conviction, " he shall be beat- 
en/' according to this parable, u with few stripes f 
A circumstance, to which our Lord referred 
when he prayed on the cross for his merciless 
tormentors ; 9 Father, forgive them, for they 
know not what they do*:" A circumstance, 
which the apostle Peter had in his eye, when, 
in addressing the Jews who crucified our Lord, 
he said, " And now, brethren, I wot that through 
ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulersf 
A circumstance, which the apostle Paul, who 
had no design to exculpate himself, or to lessen 
the guilt of the first part of his life, mentions and 
applies to his own conversion • "I was before a 
blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious ; but 
I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in 
tin belief J." 

He is not free from blame who ought to have 
been better informed. But his transgression is 
far more aggravated, who knew precisely the 



Luke xxiii. 34. 



f Acts iii, Vtm 



% 1 Tim. i. IS, 



26 THE UNEQUAL ALLOTMENTS SER. h 

will of God, and deliberately set himself against 
it ; and the sentence to be pronounced on his 
conduct, shall be in proportion, not only to the 
sins which he has committed, but to the know- 
ledge which he has abused, and the sense of 
duty by which he ought to have been deter- 
mined. 

There is one other statement of the same doc* 
trine, given us by the apostle Paul in the Epistle 
to the Romans : " There is no respect of persons 
with God : For as many as have sinned without 
law, shall also perish without law; and as many 
as have sinned in the law, shall be judged by 
the law*." 

Here the doctrine is applied to the situations 
of those who have received the least, and of 
those who have enjoyed the best, external and 
religious advantages. Every man's conduct is 
estimated by the opportunites which he has 
really possessed, and by the precise circumstan- 
ces in which he has sinned against God, or has 
obeyed his will. No man is condemned because 
he did not possess the means of duty, or is tried 

* Rom. ii. 11. 12, 



SEU. 1. OF; PROVIDENCE* |& 

by advantages which were given to his neighbour, 
and were with-held from him ; but every indivi- 
dual is condemned, or acquitted, according to 
the specific advantages which were allotted to 
himself. Superior opportunities are represented 
as the aggravations of his guilt who has not 
used, or who has perverted them ; while the 
most limited talents, the most imperfect infor- 
mation, and the most defective external advan- 
tages, are affirmed to be the measure of his ac- 
count, who has received no more, or who has 
had no more placed within his reach. 

This, then, is the general language both of 
reason and of Scripture, concerning the relation, 
which the last sentence of God on the conduct 
of men shall bear to the advantages, which have 
been given or have been denied them in this 
life. When this part of the subject is connect- 
ed with the implicit acquiescence in the duties 
assigned us in our several conditions, which the 
sense- of the authority of God, under which we 
are all equally placed, ought effectually to teach 
us ; and with our indispensible obligation to cul- 
tivate, and our danger from the perversion of the 
blessings we have received, whether they are 



THE UNEQUAL ALLOTMENTS 



SER. L 



many or few ; we must be conscious, that the 
general doctrine, illustrated under these heads, 
is of the most solemn and impressive kind. I 
beseech your attention, therefore, to the three 
following views of its practical application. 

1. The doctrine, which I have attempted to 
illustrate, ought to teach those in the lowest de- 
partments of human life, how strict even their 
account shall be at the tribunal of God. 

I say to every one of then}, it is in vain to 
murmur against God, because he has given 
more to others than he has bestowed on thee. 
This was what the unprofitable servant did, 
when he addressed this presumptuous language 
to his Lord ; " I knew that thou art an hard 
man, reaping where thou hast not sown *." 
He thought with sullenness, or he thought with 
malignity, of the distinction which had been 
raade betwixt him and his fellow-servants, in 
the distribution of the talents entrusted to them ; 
and, disdaining the authority under which he 
was placed, " he hid his talent in the earth," till 

• Matthew xxv, 24. 



SEK. I. 



OF PROVIPENCE. 



$9 



he was overwhelmed by the retribution which 
he had deliberately provoked. 

That which God has allotted to thee, is thy 
portion, both of duty and of talents, and must 
be the measure of thy last account. Nothing 
shall be required which was not given, or which 
might not have been attained. If thou hast only 
to labour in the house, or in the field, it is there 
that thy fidelity is to be proved and tried. • If 
thou art required to suffer much, or even to suf- 
fer through life, it is thy peculiar duty " to reve- 
rence the rod, and him who hath appointed it;' 5 
and to believe, that it is by patience and by suf- 
fering, that thy personal account to God must be 
prepared. To thee it is nothing that thy neigh- 
bour has received more, or that he enjoys a bet- 
ter portion, than has been given to thee. " To 
his own master he stancleth or falleth*." But 
it is of the utmost importance to consider, that 
" every man shall bear his own burden and 
that thou shalt be required to account as strictly 
for the duties of the place which has been assign- 
ed thee, as the most prosperous man can be call* 



* Rom. xiv. 4» 



30 THE UNEQUAL ALLOTMENTS SEE. 1. 

ed to answer for the greatest advantages, or for 
the most superior endowments. 

If, with the limited advantages of the poor, 
thou hast neither acquired contentment, nor in- 
dustry, nor gratitude, nor integrity, nor resigna- 
tion, nor trust in Qod ; the contrary vices, iC ex* 
cept thou shalt repent," must, of necessity, seal 
thy condemnation " at the judgment of the great 
day." It shall avail thee nothing that thou hast 
received little, if thou hast perverted whatso- 
ever was given thee, to violate thy known duties, 
or to set at defiance the authority of God, and 
the law of Christ. Poverty and profligate man- 
ners united, are sources of consummate wretch- 
edness in this world ; and human language can 
give us but a faint idea of their final result in, 
the world to come. 

But, on the other hand, it ought to invigorate 
the hearts of the helpless and of the poor, who 
" forsake not their own mercies," to know, that 
the integrity, and the personal virtues, of those 
who are placed in the lowest departments, at- 
tain their end in the kingdom of God, with as 
much certainty, a§ the fidelity which has been 



aEK. 1. OF PROVIDENCE. SI 

proved by the most splendid service. He who 
is " faithful in little," is approved in heaven, as 
well as "he who is faithful in much." God 
judges by the same rule the great and the small. 
He knows every individual man, and follows 
him with his eye. He thinks with kindness and 
forbearance of the meanest of his servants : And 
he writes with the same affection, " in the book 
of life," the fidelity of him who has th^ lowest 
place, and of him who has the most conspicuous 
talents. 

The doctrine, which I have attempted to 
illustrate, ought to come home with a peculiar 
force, to those on whom Providence has bestow- 
ed superior advantages among their brethren. 

What an account hast thou to render, who, 
in point of understanding, or of wealth, or of 
active talents, or of prosperity through life, or 
of many of these separate advantages united, 
hast been far distinguished above thy fellow- 
servants ! 

If thou hast hardened thine heart against the 
authority of God ; and, instead of having appli- 
ed thy mind to godliness, or to good works, hast 
deliberately employed thy superior advantages 



52 



THE UNEQUAL ALLOTMENTS SER. I 



against thy duties, to render thy vices more con- 
spicuous, than they would have been, if thou 
hadst held one of the most limited conditions 
of human life ; think not that this aggravated 
perversion has escaped the eye of the Judge of 
all, or that thou shalt not be strictly required to 
answer for it at his tribunal. He shall demand 
an account of every talent, of every opportunity, 
and of every good impression which he has given 
thee : and except thou shalt repent in earnest, 
and shalt hear the voice of the Son of God in 
mercy, before " the day of wrath" shall come, 
the meanest of the poor shall he received with 
kindness, when thy doom shall be fixed with 
the worst of the wicked. 

There is one source of perversion, to which 
those who possess superior talents, or enjoy un- 
usual prosperity, are peculiarly liable. Con- 
scious of the distinction they have attained, they 
are perpetually in danger of indulging an inor- 
dinate self-esteem, or of expressing, in their in- 
tercourse with other men, such sentiments of 
vain-glory and pride, as are altogether unsuitable e 
to the character of dependent beings. It is 
the chief design of the text before us, to guard 



SES. 1. OF PROVIDENCE, M- 

ys against this common, but fatal abuse of the 
gifts of God. " Who hath made thee to differ 
from another?" says the apostle, "and what hast 
thou which thou hast not received ? Now, if 
thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if 
thou hadst not received it*?" It is the good 
pleasure of God, or his good providence alone, 
which confers blessings on one man which are 
n,ot allotted to another : and he who glories 
among his brethren when his cup is full, does 
not merely sin against his neighbour, who is 
wounded by his pride; but "he lifts up his horn 
on high" against the almighty and universal 
Lord of all. " Pride was not made for man, nor 
Jiigh looks for him who is born of a woman :" 
And " he who hath made one individual to differ 
from another," " knoweth the proud afar off." 

Every man of understanding must be consci* 
ous of the advantage of superior talents, both for 
the ends and the duties of the present life : But 
it js impossible not to feel, that it is equally pre* 
posterous and unworthy, to render them subser- 
vient to the pride and to the passions of the mo- 
di il Mobd tanbawsfo *io istoxnsfb ot 

*1 Cor. iv. 7. 

tang o* $u mytei 1x3? 3d J trguib mm &z* 

c 



Si THE UNEQUAL ALLOTMENTS SER.. I. 

ment; entirely and absolutely dependent as we 
are, for every thing in our possession, and fast 
preparing to drop together into the grave, where 
every external distinction is lost for ever. "The 
small and great are there; and the servant is 
free from his master*." 

On the other hand, the doctrine which the 
text ought to bring home to us, is most interest- 
ing and consolatory to those who have in any 
degree faithfully employed superior talents. 
Their sphere of duty is high ; but the result shall 
have an exact correspondence to it. They shall 
be judged among their brethren by their effi- 
cient means, and by their real duties: and 
though their imperfections will certainly be 
found in the account of their best services to 
God and men, whatsoever they have done in 
faith, or done in earnest, or done in love, or 
done to God, or done to helpless men, or done 
" to a disciple in the name of a disciple," or done 
in humility, with any measure of pure inten- 
tions, shall be accounted to them as gain in " the 
day of the Lord." " I k,now thy works," saith 



* Job iii. 19. 



OF PROVIDENCE. 



35 



the Son of God, " and thy labour, and thy pa- 
tience" — and " that for my name's sake thou 
hast laboured, and hast not fainted*." " Who- 
soever shall confess me before men, him will I 
confess also before my father who is in hea- 
ven f." I add, 

3. That the doctrine \yhich I have endea- 
voured to illustrate, ought to make a deep im- 
pression on those who have received a large 
portion of religious advantages, by means of the 
•' gospel of the grace of God." 

Ages and generations of men have lived and 
died without the knowledge of the gospel : and 
yet every man shall be condemned at the tribu- 
nal of God, who has perverted the talents which 
he did possess; and who, in the application of 
his personal advantages, whatsoever they have 
been, has deliberately sinned against his con- 
science in the sight of Qod. " Of how much 
sorer punishment shall they be accounted wor- 
thy," who pervert or neglect the great salvation 
of the gospel; " who count the blood of the cp- 

* Rev. ii. 2. and 3. t Matthew x. 32. 

c3 



36 THE UNEQUAL ALLOTMENTS SER. 1. 



venant an unholy thing, or do despite unto the 
Spirit of Grace*?" 

Men of every order, who have had the bene- 
fit of the gospel, shall account to God, not only 
for the superior advantages of the dispensation 
under which they have lived, and for the light 
and information which it has spread around 
them ; but for every good impression which it 
has made on their minds ; for every good in- 
tention, or strong conviction of duty, which it 
has at any time awakened within them ; for 
every good motive, or desire, with which it has, 
in any instance, inspired them ; for every duty 
which it has urged them to fulfil ; for the ef- 
fects of every temptation which it has warned 
them to shun ; for every sin which it has brought 
home to their consciences; for all the repent- 
ance to which it has solicited or incited them; 
and for the reception which they have given to 
the mercy and salvation promulgated by him, 
" whom God set forth to be a propitiation 
through faith in his blood," that " whosoever 
believeth on him," " might receive the remission , 
,of sins." 

* Heb. x. 29. 



SEK. 1. OF PROVIDENCE. 



37 



This must, indeed, be a solemn account, sup- 
posing it to be minutely taken. The last sen- 
tence to be pronounced on our conduct will be 
an awful sentence, if the gospel shall be ulti- 
mately found " to have come to us in word on- 
ly*," and not "in demonstration of the spirit 
and of power f:" or, if it shall appear before the 
tribunal of God, that though we have professed 
to believe Christianity, we have not attained 
the ends of our faith. 

Even under the gospel, our advantages are by 
no means equal. But every man shall answer 
in his own place for the effects of the gospel on 
his own mind, and for all the doctrine of salva- 
tion, as well as for every impression of duty, 
which it has ever brought home to his convic- 
tion* 

Happy is he, who can say with a full per- 
suasion, " To me to live is Christ, and to die is 
gain J." " I am crucified with Christ, never- 
theless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me ; 
and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live 
by the faith of the Son of God p 

* 1 Thess. i. 5. f 1 Cor. ii. 4. 

t Philip, i. 21. || Gal. ii. 20. 



SERMON IL 

ON 

THE MINUTE IMPROVEMENT OF THE 
BLESSINGS OF PROVIDENCE* 



st john vi. 12. 

" Jesus said to his disciples, gather up the frag- 
ments that remain, that nothing be lost." 

The instruction we may receive from the spi- 
rit of this text, is not confined to the subject to 
which it was originally applied. I am to illus- 
trate a Variety of examples, to which the lan- 
guage of the text may be adapted, by which 
men, in the most different situations, may be 
able to estimate both their obligations and their 
fidelity. 

The advantages which the providence of God 
bestows on us in this life, are all liable to be di« 



SER. 2. 



OF FIDELITY. 



39 



minished by events, and to be gradually ex- 
hausted. But our obligation to employ them 
faithfully for the purposes for which we have 
received them, is unalterably the same, as long 
as any part of them remains in our possession. 
He who regulates our duties by our means of 
fulfilling them, with exact discrimination, re- 
quires us to account to him as strictly for the 
smallest portion of blessings, or of talents, which 
is permitted to remain with us, as for the advan- 
tages which we continue to possess in their full 
extent 

When our Lord had miraculously fed five 
thousand men, with five loaves and two fishes, 
he said to the twelve apostles, " Gather up the 
fragments which remain, that nothing be lost." 

I select the following examples to illustrate 
the minute improvement of the blessings of pro- 
vidence which this fact may be employed to 
suggest to us : if The fragments" of the provi- 
sion made for our temporal necessities — " The 
fragments" of our time — " The fragments" of 
our private comfort, or of our personal advan- 
tages — " The fragments" of our health, or of 
our vigour. 



40 



THE MINUTENESS 



SER. 2. 



The obligation is indispensible, " that nothing 
shall be lost" in the management of any of 
these blessings, or in the use or application of 
the least portion of them which remains to us. 
None of the examples is foreign to the language 
of the text ; and when they are taken together, 
they will lead us far into the business of human 
life, and into the duties by which good men 
ought to prove their faith, and to adorn it. I 
direct your attention; 

I. To " the fragments" of the provision made 
for our temporal necessities ; for this was the 
original subject to which the text was applied. 

If ever there was a time, when the care of 
fragments might have been thought useless or 
unnecessary, we might have supposed that to 
have beeri the time, when our Lord had fed 
" five thousand men" with "five loaves and two 
fishes ;" and, by so doing, had shewn his dis- 
ciples how easy it was for him to provide for 
every possible situation in which they could be 
placed. Yet this was precisely the time which . 
he selected to admonish them, that the super- 
fluity was not beyond their care, and that " the 
fragments" were to be gathered with the same 



SER. 2. 



OF FIDELITY. 



41 



attention, which would have been necessary if 
their subsistence had depended on them. 

The situation in which it was delivered ren- 
ders the admonition peculiarly pointed and im- 
pressive. It is an admonition to men of every 
rank, of the fidelity with which they are bound 
to employ the gifts of providence, and of the so- 
licitude with which they are required to guard 
them from abuse and perversion. 

It is an admonition to the rich ; not against 
the full enjoyment of the blessings which God 
has bestowed on them, and which he requires 
them to use with gratitude and humility; but 
against the habit of squandering, without judg- 
ment and without thought, that which ought to 
have been reserved for private comfort, or for 
good works. It is an admonition against the os- 
tentatious neglect of that which they do not use; 
Which not only is an insult offered to the po- 
verty of other men, but indicates the utmost in- 
sensibility of mind to the bounty of God. It 
is an admonition against the improvident waste 
of the provisions which are given, for the sus- 
tenance and comfort of human life ; which pros- 
perous men scarcely allow themselves to per- 



42 



THE MINUTENESS 



SEll. % 



ceive, auiidst the superfluities which seem to 
preclude the necessity of frugality or care; and 
by which even their servants and dependents 
are permitted to aggravate their perversion of 
the gifts of God. 

The frugality, which is a matter of necessity 
to the poor, ought to be an object of impressive 
duty among the rich* as faithful stewards of the 
gifts of God, both for themselves and for their 
brethren. Their wealth is allotted them for the 
glory of God among men, that they may not 
only have the means of private comfort, but be 
able to send a supply to him who is iu want, 
or consolation to him who is pressed down by 
calamities, or relief to him who has no friend : 
And the superfluities which they possess, are 
pledges from the God of providence, of the use- 
fulness for which he shall require them to ac- 
count, when " the small and the great" shall be 
judged together. 

No degree of wealth can therefore justify the 
unprincipled waste or profusion of the rich, who 
squander that which they cannot use; or the * 
thoughtless negligence by which they permit 
their servants wantonly to scatter " the frag- 



sER. 2> 



OF FIDELITY. 



43 



ments" of their abundance, which they ought to 
preserve and to employ, as the precious gifts of 
God " to him who needeth." 

The sense of duty will instruct a good man 
how he ought to guard from abuse the blessings 
which are entrusted to him by the bounty of 
heaven ; and, when they are beyond his own 
wants, with how much conscientious and de- 
liberate attention he ought to treasure up the 
least portion " which remains" of them, for the 
consolation of helpless men, and for the glory of 
God by them. 

The admonition of the text is addressed to 
those who serve, or who depend on the rich, as 
well as to the rich themselves ; to. remind them, 
that they are not permitted either to waste or to 
squander that which is not their own; that 
" the fragments" of every day's provisions are 
committed to their trust ; and that they are un- 
der an indispensible obligation to manage them 
with so much attention before God and ma^ 
that nothing shall be either lost or destroyed, by 
their negligence, by their profusion, or by thek 
dishonesty. 

Every class of conscientious servants ought to 



44 THE MINUTENESS SEK. 2. 

feel the impression of this admonition, whereso- 
ever their master's goods are entrusted to them ; 
in the house, and in the field ; when their mas- 
ter's eye is on them, and when they have nothing 
but their consciences to guard their fidelity. A 
man's sense of duty, and the sincerity of his faith 
in the gospel, are as exactly ascertained by his 
reverence or by his neglect of a precept, such as 
the admonition of this text, as they can be 
by almost any other test which it is possible to 
apply to them. " He who is faithful in little, 
is faithful also in much." " Servants/' says the 
apostle, " be obedient to them that are your 
masters according to the flesh, in singleness of 
your hearts, as unto Christ, not with eye-service 
as men-pleasers, but as the servants of Christ, do- 
ing the will of God from the heart ; with good 
will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to 
men *." 

The spirit of the text may be applied to the 
condition of the poor 3 as well as to the conscien- 
ces of the rich ; to teach the poor how to value, 
and how to husband, the gifts of God, when their 
wants are supplied ; to teach them how to esti- 

* Ephes. vi. 5. 6. 7- 



SER. % 



OF FIDELITY. 



45 



mate " the fragments which remain," when they 
have more than their need requires ; to teach 
them moderation, as well as frugality, in the en- 
joyment of whatsoever is given them ; to teach 
them, that the blessing of heaven rests on " the 
fragments" of the poor — the blessing which comes 
from him who fed the multitude in the wilderness, 
and who so blessed the widow's " barrel of meal" 
in the day of famine, and her " cruse of oil*," 
that they did not waste till the day of abundance 
came. 

He who has these impressions on his mind, 
" gathers the fragments" of his scanty provision 
as the precious pledges of the God of heaven, 
that he shall supply all his wants. While they 
last, he gives thanks to God that he is not for- 
saken; and when they are exhausted, he com- 
forts himself by reflecting, that nothing was 
wasted, neglected, or lost, which the bounty of 
heaven bestowed on him ; and that he can trust 
to the God of providence all that is to come. 

The ingratitude, the waste, an4 the improvi~ 
dence, of the poor, add more to their guilt, than 
even to their wretchedness, or to their poverty. 

* 1. Kings xvii. 16. 



46 



THE MINUTENESS 



SER. 2. 



But the poor, " who are rich in faith," are the 
" heirs of promise." While " they gather their 
fragments" as blessings from heaven, with faith 
and humility, the kindness of providence will 
not desert them, and " their eyes shall see th ; e 
salvation of God." 

Let us take an example, 

II. From " the fragments" of our time. . 

We are placed in this world in a state of pro- 
bation ' for the world to come, which we are re- 
quired to accomplish by means of the duties and 
situations assigned us ; and the result of which 
is to determine our condition for ever. The 
consequences must be permanent; while the 
time allotted us for probation is not only limited, 
but, as far as our knowledge extends, perfectly 
uncertain. 

Every man, who feels the impression of these 
facts on his mind, must be conscious, that it is 
of the last importance that the time given him 
for probation should be employed to the best ad- 
vantage ; and that, if possible, it should not only 
be fully occupied, but steadily and faithfully di- 
rected to the duties on which so much is here- 
after to depend. 



SER. *2. 



OF FIDELITY, 



47 



Though religion is the great animating prin* 
ciple of fidelity, the time of probation is not to 
be engrossed by the exercises of religion, or by 
acts of devotion. These are but means leading 
to the general ends in view. The portion of our 
time which they require is no doubt of great 
importance, to rivet on our minds the certainty 
of the world to come, and our personal interest 
in the doctrines of salvation by Christ ; to 
bring home to our consciences, by renewed 
and successive impressions, the considerations of 
duty which ought to determine our conduct ; 
to prepare us, by means of the habitual awe 
of God upon our minds, to meet the tempta- 
tions of the world with firmness, to guard 
us against " the sins which most easily beset 
us ;" by the intimate knowledge of ourselves 
which the continued exercises of religion en- 
able us to possess ; and to purify the motives 
of our conduct, by means of the faith which 
is strengthened and " sanctified by prayer." 

The devotion which cultivates or strengthens 
the influence of religion within the mind, has 
an extensive effect on the occupations to which 
our time ought to be chiefly directed; and serves 



43 



THE MINUTENESS 



SER. 2. 



to support both our ardour and our fidelity in 
applying to them : but it is equally plain, that 
the acts of religion must ever be subordinate to 
the habits which they are designed to promote 
or to preserve. 

The chief portions of our time must, of ne? 
cessity, be given to the active business, and to 
the essential duties, of human life ; to the use- 
fulness for which either our talents or our situa- 
tions have qualified us ; to the assistance which 
we can give to other men, by supplying their 
wants, or by relieving their infirmities, or by 
promoting their comfort or salvation ; and to 
the opportunities afforded us of glorifying God 
in this world, by means of the industry and 
labour which our personal duties, or our several 
relations require. 

To these indispensible objects of human life, 
the chief part of our time ought certainly to be 
devoted, whilst we keep our eyes fixed on the 
result of our probation, and " wait for the Sou 
of God from heaven." 

But it is a solemn consideration indeed, that * 
all that portion of our time, which is not direct- 



SE R. & OF FIDELITY. 49 

ly or remotely subservient to such ends aa these; 
all that part of it, by which we do not sincerely 
endeavour to promote the glory of God, and 
our personal usefulness in the plaice assigned us, 
or which is not subservient to, our progress 
in holiness, in fidelity to God, or in benevo- 
lence to men ; is truly perverted from the ends 
for which it was given us, and is to be set down,, 
in our deliberate reflections, as time irrecover- 
ably lost. 

There is a certain portion of our time, which 
we necessarily require for relaxation from the 
more serious or severe employments of life. 
But it is most humbling to the best of us, to. 
consider dispassionately how much time is lost 
in sloth, or spent in idleness ; how much we 
might have reserved for duties, which has left 
with us no memorial, but that it was spent in 
vain : how much we have given to acknow- 
ledged folly, or to trifles, qr to vain-glory, or to 
pride, or to envy, or to the useless pursuits or 
the unhallowed strifes of the world, which we 
ought to have given to the labour, or to the ac- 
tivity which our duties require, or to the good 
works which we know to be within our sphere. 



50 THE MINUTENESS SER. 2. 

■ 

It is impossible, without deep regret, to consider 
deliberately bow much we might have done 
more than we have ever been able to accom- 
plish, if, without encroaching on the relaxations 
we required, we had faithfully employed the 
time we have lost, in our labours or in our ac- 
tive pursuits, in the culture or in the discipline 
of our own mind§, in the occupations which 
might have profited other men, or in the appli- 
cation of our talents to our permanent interests. 
If we turn our thoughts to this subject with se- 
rious and undivided attention, we shall find good 
reason to ascribe a great part of our deficiencies 
in knowledge, in godliness, in good works, and 
in substantial virtues, to the carelessness or to 
the levity with which we have regarded " the 
fragments" of time, or to the listless negli- 
gence with which we have permitted them to 
be lost. We perceive not how precious our 
time has been, till we are deprived of the op- 
portunities of employing it; nor, till it cannot 
be recalled, do we perceive that the time which 
we have deliberately squandered, leaves on the 
conscience the guilt of neglecting all that which 
ought to have been done, and the bitter reflec- 



SER. 2. 



OF FIDELITY. 



51 



tion of having deservedly forfeited whatsoever 
might have been attained. 

It is impossible to calculate how much might 
be done, by means of " the fragments 3 ' of time 
which might be fairly saved from the sleep 
which we do not require, from the sloth which 
we indulge against our judgment, or from the 
frivolous occupations which add nothing to our 
happiness, and which are constantly encroach^ 
ing both on our usefulness and on our duties. 
The time which might be redeemed, from these 
sources, by almost any individual man, if it were 
faithfully and religiously employed for the busi- 
ness of human life, and for the great pur- 
poses to which our understandings and our ta- 
lents ought to be applied, would add much more 
than it is possible to state, both to the result of 
his labours, and to their effects on the probation 
appointed him. To a great multitude, it would 
add at least an equal proportion to the time which 
they can deliberately set down as employed for 
useful purposes, or as having been spent in fulfil- 
ling their real duties. It would do much more to 
some individuals, whose time has never been 
v % 



52 



THE MINUTENESS 



SER. 2. 



precious to them, and whose essential duties 
have never been the chief objects of their solici- 
tude. 

But, what it is most important to consider, the 
time which every one of us has it still in his 
power to redeem, if it were faithfully employ- 
ed, would be sufficient to lengthen the duration 
of our active labours to more than twice their 
usual term. Could we resolve, in earnest, to 
employ to the best advantage the hours which 
have hitherto passed unheeded or unoccupied ; 
and to watch, with sedulous anxiety, the mo- 
ments which we are conscious might be render- 
ed substantially useful in the business of human 
life ; our activity would be extended far indeed 
beyond the ordinary limits, and its effects be- 
yond our most sanguine computations. 

The imperfection of human nature does not 
permit us to believe that this habit of the mind 
is either easily or often attained. Unless it has 
become strong indeed, by long and steady culti- 
vation, it is certain that our vigour, both of bo- 
dy and of mind, is exhausted much sooner than < 
our time. There are, however, a sufficient num- 
ber of examples to convince us, how much 



SER. 2. OF FIDELITT. 5S 

might certainly be done by means of " the frag- 
ments" of time, if we were heartily disposed to 
employ them. When we examine how much 
beyond the ordinary rate of human attainments, 
those have done who seem to have best under- 
stood the value of their time, we are astonish- 
ed at the extent, and at the result of their la- 
bours ; we shrink within ourselves, as if we were 
conscious that, when compared with them, we 
have done scarcely any thing from our birth. 

Even without such a comparison as this, 
which it will be always useful to consider, if the 
best of us shall deliberately examine their own 
lives, they will find so much of their time which 
has been lost, so much which has been squan- 
dered, so much which ought to have been bet- 
ter employed, and so much for which they can- 
not answer to God or to themselves, that an ad- 
monition to persuade them to redeem "the frag- 
ments" of time, which are still in their power, 
must . come home to their consciences, as relat- 
ing to the most impressive and most forcible 
obligations. 

How much time yet remains to any of us, 
while we continue in this world, is known only 



54 



the Minuteness 



SER. <£. 



to God : But the imperfection' of our personal 
attainments^ and our probation, which is still in- 
complete, suggest a subject of the most awful con- 
sideration. The least portion of time becomes 
incalculably precious, from the uncertainty of 
human life. He who may die to-morrow, has 
not to-day an hour to neglect or to lose. He 
who feels how much of his time has already 
been squandered, and how much is yet to be 
done within the narrow limits of his uncertain 
life, in order to fulfil his essential duties, or " to 
work out his salvation," can scarcely fail to re- 
gard the time which remains to him, both as 
the resource and the consolation of his heart. 

If this should also be lost, nothing which he 
has left undone can ever be repaired. On the 
other hand, if God shall enable him to employ 
the time to come better, more faithfully, more 
earnestly, and more steadily, than he has em- 
ployed that which he can never recal ; some- 
thing, at least, he may still attain, which may 
be accounted to him as gain, " when the Lord 
shall come." 

On this point I shall say nothing more, than 
that he who shall learn to estimate " the frag- 



S£R. 2. 



OF FIDELITY. 



55 



ments" of time at their proper value in early 
life, shall raise his head above his brethren from 
youth to age ; and that even those who know 
best the duties and the attainments of human 
beings, cannot adopt a rule which, under God, 
will render them more successful in both, or 
more respectable through life, than that which 
shall teach them to consider " the fragments" of 
time as the objects of their uniform and sedu- 
lous attention* 

We cannot recover that which is spent ; but 
every portion of our time to come is yet our 
own, Whatever part of it we shall employ in 
essential duties, or in labours really useful to 
ourselves or to the world, will neither be spent 
in vain, nor ever be remembered with regret. 

Let us now take an example, 

III. From " the fragments" of our private 
comfort, or of our personal advantages. 

The advantages by which we are required to 
fulfil our personal obligations in this world, are 
not only bestowed on us in very unequal pro- 
portions, but are destined to remain in our pos- 
session for very different periods. One man's 
prosperity is continued to the end of his life ; 



56 



THE MINUTENTESS 



or, at least, he experiences no events which make 
anv striking or sensible encroachment either on 
the prosperity of his external condition, or on his 
private comfort. But another mans satisfactions 
are interrupted in the midst of his enjoyment of 
them. They may be withdrawn from him by 
means of events of which he was least aware, 
and for which he was not prepared, He may 
lose his prosperity early, by the death, by the 
calamities, or by the misconduct of those on 
whom he depended. Even the advantages or 
religion may be diminished by events, or we 
may be deprived of the benefit or of the com- 
fort of them, by circumstances which change 
onr externa! situations, or render us incapable of 
enjoying them. 

It must be evident, that in accounting to God 
for our conduct, we have to answer for the full 
extent and duration of the advantages we have 
been permitted to possess ; and that he who has 
glorified God when his cup was full, by a faith- 
ful application and improvement of blessings 
which he has long enjoyed, shall shine at last 
among the purest of faithful men. 

But it is of great importance to consider, that 



SER. 2, 



OF FIDELITY, 



57 



our obligations are riot destined, when our per- 
sonal advantages are diminished or are with- 
drawn ; and that an account shall be as strictly 
required of the least portion of them which re- 
mains to us, as could have been demanded, if 
we had been permitted to continue to the end 
of our lives in the full possession of them, a 

Men are extremely apt to think themselves 
absolved from obligations, which they have not 
the same means of fulfilling which they once 
possessed ; and even to imagine, that they are 
entitled to indulge a chagrin, which equally de- 
stroys their happiness, and disqualifies them for 
their active duties, from the regret with which 
they look back on satisfactions or advantages of 
which the providence of God has deprived them;. 
H My personal comfort in this world is at an 
end," will the desponding spirit sometimes say; 
" for that on which it chiefly depended is taken 
away for ever. My duties are no more the 
same ; for, besides the change of circumstances 
which has turned them into a new channel, that 
which chiefly supported me in applying to them 
exists no longer. I have lost the spring from 
which I derived my ardour, in the domestic or 



5$ 



THE MINUTENESS 



SER. 2* 



in the personal comforts, of which the irresisti* 
bie decrees of providence have deprived me. If 
I have consolations, they are not for this world ; 
and I have no longer any thing to induce me to 
mix with active men." 

Language such as this is more frequently the 
effect of the disappointment or disgust which the 
spirit of the world produces, than of the faith or 
resignation which we ought to learn from reli- 
gion. Heavy afflictions, which deprive us of 
the objects of our confidence or affection, which 
come upon us suddenly, or which essentially 
derange our private habits, are certainly hard to 
bear. It requires both length of time and a 
strong faith in God, to teach us the submission 
which it is our duty to acquire. 

But there are few events, indeed, which can 
deprive men of all their comfort, or which can 
remove them from the sphere, or from the obli- 
gation of their personal duties. There are fewer 
still, which can entitle them to make death their 
object, or to set bounds to the probation assign- 
ed them* If they once enjoyed a large propor- » 
tion of personal or of domestic satisfactions, is it 
gratitude to God to desert his service, or to sink 



sEK. % 



OF FIDELITY. 



59 



into despondency, because his sovereign will 
has taken away that which they were long per- 
mitted to possess? Was their fidelity at all pro- 
portioned to the advantages which they en- 
joyed, while they were yet in their possession ? 
Or do they not feel how little they have done 
in comparison with what was certainly in their 
power? And must they not then be conscious of 
the activity with which they are bound to " fill 
up that which has been wanting" in their ser- 
vice, in proportion to the means which are still 
in their hands? If they consider how much 
they ought to have attained, while they had 
every advantage to assist and to animate them* 
shall it be a subject of chagrin or of despair, that 
God has changed their lot, or diminished their 
personal comforts, or varied or narrowed their 
sphere of duty ? Or shall they feel themselves at 
liberty to disregard the admonition of provi- 
dence, " to gather up the fragments which re* 
main?" 

There is scarcely any situation in human life, 
in which there are not many comforts remain- 
ing, whatever the blessings are, which have 
been taken away. This is an unquestionable 



60 



THE MINUTENESS 



SEU. 2, 



fact, though we were not to consider the cases, 
in which providence compensates; by subsequent 
events, the heaviest calamities which we can ex- 
perience. We may have lost what we valued 
as our best advantages, and may regret them 
with a degree of tenderness which supposes that 
their place cannot soon be supplied. We may 
have nothing more than " the fragments" of 
our most precious blessings, which were once 
entire. But it is possible that, by the grace of 
God, the faith which is purified by sorrow, 
may enable us to make more of M the frag- 
ments" than we were able to attain by the full 
extent of our advantages. We are not to sink 
into despondency, whilst we are still permitted 
to enjoy many blessings, for which we give 
thanks to God : Whilst in the use of them, there 
is still a duty which we feel to be binding on 
us, a good work which we have still the oppor- 
tunity of fulfilling, a service which we can still 
perform to those around us, or a good example* 
which the blessings which we still possess can 
enable us to shew them ; or if, whilst " we suf- 1 
fer affliction by the will of God," there is still a 
friend who helps our infirmities, whose face we 



SER. 2. 



OF FIDELITY. 



61 



can cheer by our gratitude, or by our sympathy, 
or by our patience, or by our trust in God. 

If we are still capable of activity and of ac- 
tive duties, no deprivation of past satisfactions 
will justify our inactivity. Much less can it 
entitle us to indulge the despondency, which 
looks only to the grave. On the other hand, if 
we shall estimate at their true value " the frag- 
ments which remain" to us of private or person- 
al comfort, and shall use them faithfully, as 
the means of fulfilling the duties which we are 
not permitted to relinquish, they will grow or 
will be multiplied in our possession by the in- 
fluence of God. If we shall persevere till we 
reap the result of them, one satisfaction will be . 
added to another, and God may he pleased " to 
bless our latter end," like Job's, even more than 
the happiest part of our past time. 

No man can have a right to reject the advan- 
tages which are left with him, or to relinquish 
the duties which he can still fulfil, on account 
of the blessings which have been taken away. 
We may have good reason to regret that which 
we no longer possess. But as long as our pro- 
bation lasts, much will remain after all that we 



62 THE MINUTENESS SER. 2. 

can lose, which we are bound both to value, 
and to employ for discharging our indispensible 
duties. 

If the providence of God were to deprive us 
even of the advantages which we receive by 
the institutions of religion ; or if they were to be 
sensibly diminished or impaired by circumstances 
over which we could have no influence or con- 
troul ; it would still be our duty to employ, with 
the earnestness which our best interests demand, 
the knowledge which we had already acquired, 
the help of faithful men around us, the word of 
God (if we were still permitted to read it for 
ourselves), and " the prayer of faith" at " the 
throne of grace." 

Those who could, in such a case, neglect what 
they still possessed, on account of that which the 
providence of God had put beyond their reach, 
would incur a heavy condemnation indeed ; 
whilst those who " gathered up the fragments 
which remained" to them, " would flourish" still, 
like " plants in the house of God f* " the Spirit 
of Christ helping their infirmities," and " supply- 
ing all their need," 



3ER. 2. OF FIDELITY. 63 

In whatever department we are destined to 
act, we must be conscious that our duties are in 
exact proportion to our talents. Our obligations 
cannot be diminished, while our personal com- 
forts and capacities are still entire. And even 
when our advantages are impaired by events, we 
are still indispensibly bound to cultivate the -full 
extent of the advantages which remain to us ; 
that nothing may be lost which they ought to 
be the means of attaining; and that our fidelity 
may be equally complete, whether our talents 
are many or few. 

As the last example which I shall mention, I 
direct your attention, 

IV. To " the fragments" of our health or of 
our vigour. 

Every man of understanding acknowledges 
our obligation to apply our talents to the busi- 
ness of human life, or to the ends of our proba- 
tion for the world to come, as long as we are 
capable of exercising them. It is impossible se- 
riously to doubt that our personal duties must be 
indispensible, as long as we have the means of 
fulfilling them. 

But when the doctrine is applied to practice. 



64 



THE MINUTENESS 



SEIi. 2. 



we are apt to take very different views of the 
subject. Though it is a truth fully established 
by experience, that it is best for every man, in 
the present life, and most for his advantage as 
an immortal being, to persevere in the active 
duties of his condition, as long as it is possible 
for him to discharge them ; there is nothing 
which men more generally allow to dwell on 
their thoughts through life, than the idea, that 
a time shall come, long before they die, when 
they shall be able to relinquish their usual or 
professional occupations, and to spend the rest 
of their time, without labour or exertion, in the 
enjoyment of their private or domestic situa« 
tions. Few in comparison are ever permitted 
to realise an idea, which so many allow to oc- 
cupy their imaginations. Of those who are 
enabled to relinquish their labours, if their lives 
are prolonged, the greater part have reason to 
repent what they have done. By the change 
produced on their habits, and by want of use, 
their faculties are gradually impaired, as the 
sources of their activity are diminished; and 
they meet with chagrin and disappointment, 



OF FIDELITY. 



65 



where they expected to have found nothing but 
satisfaction or tranquillity. 

I do not say that those who have retired from 
the bustle of affairs cannot employ, and employ 
faithfully, " the fragments'' both of their health 
and of their vigour. They have certainly much 
in their power, if they consecrate their leisure 
to real duties, and keep their talents occupied 
as they ought to be ; much which relates to 
the discipline of their own minds ; much which 
can be done in domestic life, for the advantage 
of the old or of the young, to whom they can 
give their attention or their time ; much by 
which they can be useful to those whose charac- 
ters they can influence, whose hands they can 
strengthen ; whom they can assist in their diffi- 
culties, or comfort in their sickness, or furnish 
with the means either of prosperity or of reli- 
gion. 

Those who apply the decline of life to such 
purposes as these, do not retire in vain from the 
bustle of the world. If they embrace heartily 
the opportunities of usefulness which they still 
possess, nothing is lost which they are capable 
of attaining. That which they do in secret for 

£ 



66 



THE MINUTENESS 



SER. 2* 



the glory of God, or for the advantage of their 
fellow mortals, is sanctified by the prayer of 
faith, and shall be accounted to them as good 
service, in " the day of Christ." 

But though I say this, I have no hesitation to 
add, that those who abide by their active oc- 
cupations from a sense of duty, and who em- 
ploy the last portion of their talents where they 
spent their vigour, have much better reason to ex- 
pect, that both their usefulness and their personal 
comfort shall be continued as long as they live. 

No good man's conscience will suggest to 
him that he ought to become weary of his la- 
bours. He who delights in the service on 
which his duty or his usefulness depends, can 
have no wish to relinquish it. He is anxious 
to persevere in the duties which he can in any 
degree accomplish, even when he is conscious 
of his decline. He looks up to God, to whom 
he thinks he shall soon return ; and though he 
knows that his summons to die cannot be dis- 
tant, it continues to be the first wish of his heart, 
that he may be found employing the last por- * 
tions of his health and life, in the duties of his 
proper place. 



SER. 2. 



OF FIDELITY. 



67 



A man who is able to preserve this happy 
temper of mind to the end, has a far better pros- 
pect, than other habits could afford him, of pos- 
sessing the vigour of his faculties to his last 
hour ; and therefore of extending his labours 
and his usefulness far beyond the ordinary term 
of human activity. He hears the voice of his 
master, urging his duties and his fidelity on his 
conscience, till his strength is gone: And he 
does not lose the impression of it, till the last 
spark of life expires. 

There are not, perhaps, many living examples 
to which all this description can be literally ap- 
plied ; but some individuals there certainly are, 
within our own knowledge, to whom it may 
be applied without any exaggeration. He who 
lives, or who endeavours to live, in those 
habits of personal activity and exertion, in 
the decline of, life, and who dies at last in 
faith and patience, may well adopt the language 
of the apostle of the Gentiles, " I have fought 
a good fight, I have finished my course, I have 
kept the faith. Henceforth is laid up for me a 
crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the 

e 2 



68 



THE MINUTENESS 



S E R. % 



righteous judge, will give to me; and not to me 
only, but to all them who love his appearing/' 

What a reproach is the idea of such a life, to 
the indolent, the careless, the useless characters 
which we find around us ! What a reproach 
even to " men professing godliness," who allow 
themselves deliberately to prefer their pleasures 
or their ease, to the fidelity which depends on 
active labours, or to the usefulness which they 
have the means of supporting to the end of their 
lives. 

What an admonition do the considerations 
which I have represented suggest to every one 
of us! They relate to some of the most im- 
portant obligations which can be brought home 
to the consciences of men. The period allotted 
us for active duties is as uncertain as it is short 
Much is yet to be done to render our fideli- 
ty complete, whether our talents have been cul- 
tivated or neglected, and how much soever they 
have been diminished by time. We cannot know 
how much remains to us of our time, or of our com- 
fort, or of our talents, or of our health. We de- 
pend entirely and absolutely on the will of God. 
But we know who hath said, " Your heavenly 



SER. 2. 



of Fidelity. 



father will give the holy Spirit tq them who. ask 
him*." " Our labour in the Lord," be it greater 
or less, " shall not be in vain." " In due time 
we shall reap, if we faint not:" And vve are 
certain, that " he who endureth to the end shall 
be saved." 



f Luke, xi. 13. 



SERMON III. 



ON 

SELF-DENIAL. 



LUKE ix. 23. 
(i Jesus said to them all, if any man will come 
after me, let him deny himself" 

This text represents the habits of self-denial 
as forming one of the leading features in the 
personal characters of the disciples of Christ. It 
describes " the discipline" which we ought to ap- 
ply to our own minds; and which, in the pre- 
sent corrupt state of human nature, is insepar- 
able from our progress in any department of our * 
private duties. Our Lord says explicitly to us 
all, and he says it without qualifications or restric- 



SER. 3. 



SELF-DENIAL. 



71 



tions, " If any man will come after me, let him 
deny himself." 

We are not to suppose, from the language of 
the text, that practical religion subjects us to a 
degree of self-denial, which no other interest or 
pursuit requires. Christianity is far from enjoin- 
ing us to renounce those enjoyments of this life, 
which are not inconsistent with our duties, or 
which do not prevent us from fulfilling them ; 
nor did our Lord intend, by the admonition of 
the text, to recommend the practice of personal 
austerities, which have no connexion with real 
obligations, or no direct tendency to preserve 
their influence on our minds. Those who hold 
this language have departed widely from the spi- 
rit of our Lord's instructions, " teaching for doc- 
trines the commandments of men." The aus- 
terity by which men deny themselves the com- 
forts of life, or endanger their health, or torment 
their bodies, in the name of religion, is one of 
the most hurtful perversions of religious prin- 
ciple, which has ever been imposed on the cre- 
dulity of the world. It can produce no advan- 
tage to individuals, and is pernicious, in the 
highest degree, to the moral principles, and to 



7% SELF-DENIAL. &ER. 3* 

the general interests, of mankind. The good 
sense which runs through every precept of the 
gospel, excludes the supposition, that any thing 
is to be done as duty to God, which has no pre- 
cise or specific end, which is not of real impor- 
tance by itself, or which does not belong to the 
efficient means by which our obligations are to 
be fulfilled. 

Though Christianity is excellently adapted to 
the conditions of mankind, it is not without 
self-denial that men bring themselves either to 
rely on its doctrines, or to submit to its authori- 
ty. It is a subject as much of experience as of 
theory, that there is in human nature an origi- 
nal aversion # to religion, to religious duties, to 
religious restraints, to the salvation which der 
pends on religion, to the idea of salvation " by 
the cross of Christ* Jle who is conscious of 
his depravity, thinks not so much with fear as 
with indignation of " the righteous judgment of 
God :" And though, while he remains in this 
state of mind, his better reflections ought to give 
him many alarms with regard to his future con- 



* Rom. v, 10. 



SER. 3. 



SELF-DENIAL. 



73 



dition, and will, besides, sometimes represent 
Christianity in a more favourable light; the 
pride of his heart steadily resists the authority 
which is opposed to his predominant inclina- 
tions, as well as the means of salvation, to which 
he finds it impossible to reconcile them*. 

It will not therefore surprise us, that a cordial 
and settled acquiescence in the authority of 
religion should be represented as requiring a 
self-denial, which reaches a man's general habits 
of thinking as well as his course of life; or that 
the gospel should frequently and solemnly af- 
firm, that " if any man be in Christ he is a new 
creature;" that, with regard to the general 
temper of his mind, " old things are passed 
away," and " all things are become new f >' that 
he is " the workmanship of God, created in 
Christ Jesus unto good works if and that " he 
hath passed from death unto life ||." We shall 
be prepared to enter into the full meaning and 
spirit of the language which the New Testament 



* Rom. viii. 7." 
J Ephes. ii. 10. 



f 2 Cor. v. 17* 
||1 John iii. 14- 



74 



SELF-DENIAL. 



SEIt. S# 



employs on this subject, when we shall have learnt 
from experience to consider practical Christianity, 
from its commencement in the mind of man, to 
its consummation in the kingdom of heaven, as 
a system of salutary discipline, adapted by the 
wisdom of God to the circumstances of human 
life, and to the condition of human nature. 

But I am at present to confine myself to the 
more minute illustrations of the doctrine of the 
text, and to consider self-denial in common si- 
tuations, as it ought to appear in the personal 
conduct of those, who profess to embrace Chris- 
tianity, and to abide by the rules which they 
find in the gospel. 

It is impossible not to admit, that in order 
" to deny ourselves," according to the spirit of 
our Lords injunction, we must be bound to 
subdue our inclinations, in every instance in 
which they would lead us into any thing which 
Christianity condemns, or which is unfavour- 
able to our fidelity in Christian duties ; and to 
submit, besides, to every degree of activity and 
patience, which the particular duties, or the ge- 
neral ends, of Christianity require. 



SER. 3. 



SELF-DENIAL. 



75 



It is this simple view of the subject which I 
propose to illustrate. 

I select a few examples, which every man 
may bring home to the state of his own mind ; 
and I direct your attention, 

I. To the self-denial requisite in fulfilling the 
duties, to which we feel that we are least in- 
clined. 

It is no uncommon attempt, even among 
those who consider themselves as sound believ- 
ers, to adopt Christianity in parts, selecting for 
practice the duties which are most agreeable to 
them, and disregarding those which are resisted 
by the strong propensities of the heart. 

There are duties which every man can ful- 
fil, without doing any considerable violence 
to his natural temper. He whose heart is 
naturally generous and kind, does not hesitate 
" to do good, and to communicate f to be useful 
to his friends, or beneficent to the poor ; to as- 
sist the helpless, or to have compassion on the 
dying : And because the good works, which his 
dispositions lead him to perform, are specially 
enjoined by our Lord, he is too apt to estimate 
his character by his ardour in applying to them, 



76 



SELF-DENIAL* 



SBR. 3. 



They would certainly be a legitimate proof 
of his sincerity in the faith of the gospel, if his 
predominant motives were pure, and if he were 
equally faithful in the other departments of his 
personal duty. But among men living in the 
world, it is no uncommon error, to mistake 
their natural temper for their sense of duty, and 
to suppose, besides, that the acts of beneficence 
will compensate their want of fidelity in other 
things. It happens not less frequently, that 
they trample on justice, or temperance, or the 
fear of God, and believe, notwithstanding, that 
all is well, or that they are not deficient in their 
essential duties, because they abound in the 
works of mercy. 

Those are not nearer the truth,, in judging of 
themselves, who profess to be industrious, and 
just, and faithful in the business of this world ; 
but who place every virtue in the industry, the 
justice, or the fidelity which the world requires ; 
and allow themselves to live in the habitual and 
deliberate neglect of the discipline of their o\vn 
minds, of the acts of devotion, and of "faith 
which worketh by love." 

There is another order of men, whose views 



3ER. 3. 



SELF-DEN [AL. 



77 



of religion in practice are limited to their strict 
observation of religious rites, to the attention 
which they bestow on the doctrines of religion, 
to the ardour with which they contend for the 
purity of the faith, and to the external decency 
of manners which they preserve ; and who do 
not lose their own esteem as religious men, 
though they deliberately neglect " the weighty 
matters of the law," justice, mercy, and truth. 

These different characters represent to us the 
self-deceit, by which men persuade themselves, 
that they may be faithful to the profession of 
Christianity, without submitting to the self-denial 
which Christ enjoins. They would compensate, 
by their earnestness in some departments of duty, 
their want of fidelity in others ; and it is impossi- 
ble not to perceive, that the duties which they 
neglect are precisely those, to which they are 
under the strongest obligations to apply. They 
are those which are chiefly resisted by their pre- 
dominant propensities ; and are, for this reason, 
the chief duties by which they can prove their 
personal fidelity, or effectually " work out their 
own salvation." " Strait is the gate," said our 
Lord, " and narrow is the way, which ieadeth 



78 



SELF-DEXIAL. 



bER. 3. 



unto life, and few there be that find it*." 
" Strive to enter in at the strait gate ; for many, 
I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall 
not be ablef." 

It is obvious, that there cannot be much per- 
sonal virtue, and that there is no self-denial, in 
good works, which neither contradict our pe- 
culiar tempers, nor make any sensible encroach- 
ment on our interest in the present life. It is 
self-denial, in the sense of the text, to apply 
steadily and earnestly to duties to which we 
have strong inclinations opposed, because we are 
conscious of their indispensibie obligation. It 
is self-denial to persevere in them, when we 
have both a severe and a continued struggle to 
maintain with ourselves ; because we believe, 
" that unto every one that hath shall be given J," 
and that habit and practice, " sanctified by the 
Holy Ghost ||," and ft by prayer §," will at last 
reconcile our minds to them. It is the self-de- 
nial enjoined by our Lord, to make our con- 
sciences the measuse and the rule of our con- 

* Matthew vii. 14. t Luke xiii. 24. 

J Matthew xxv. 29. \\ Rom. xv. l6. 



SE.R* 3* 



SELF-DENIAL. 



79 



duct ; and to sacrifice our private . inclinations, 
in every instance, to our sense of duty, or to our 
deliberate conviction of what we are bound to 
do or to shun. 

The most faithful men will sometimes be sen- 
sible, that there are certain duties which they 
are apt to contemplate with reluctance, or which 
they cannot fulfil without sacrificing either their 
wishes, or their apparent interests in this world. 
The self-denial of the gospel supposes them to 
be even more ardent or solicitous to discharge 
with fidelity these difficult duties, than those 
which are easier in practice, or which are less 
contrary to their natural inclinations. Christia* 
nity requires them " to esteem all God's com- 
mandments, concerning all things, to be right;" 
but it specially enjoins them to be prepared to 
make every personal sacrifice, which can be re- 
quisite, in any circumstances, to render their fi- 
delity complete, or to give them the testimony 
of their own minds, that " they have pleased 
God." " He that loveth father or mother more 
than me," said our Lord, " is not worthy of me ; 
and he that loveth son or daughter more than 
me, is not worthy of me y and he that taketh 



80 



SELF-DENTAL* 



SEIi. 3* 



not his cross and followeth after me, is not wor- 
thy of me. He that finds th his life shall lose it ; 
and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find 
it This doctrine, laid down by our Lord, re- 
ceived a most striking illustration from the con- 
duct of the apostle Paul, in a situation in which 
every private afTection gave way to an intrepid 
adherence to his personal duty. It cannot be 
represented in more impressive words than those 
in which he addressed the elders of the church 
of Ephesus : " And now behold, I go bound in 
the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the 
things which shall befai me there ; save that 
the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying, 
that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none 
of these things move me, neither count I my 
]ife dear unto myself, so that I might finish my 
course with joy, and the ministry which I have 
received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel 
of the grace of Godf." 

The self-denial which our Lord enjoins, con- 
sists in the firm and habitual resolution of the 
mind, by which his disciples are determined to 

* Matthew x. 37. 33. 39. f Acts xx. 22. 23* 24, 



SER. 3. 



SELF-DENIAL. 



81 



subdue every private inclination inconsistent 
with their fidelity to him, and to apply steadily 
to every department of their personal duties, ac- 
cording to their best conviction of their obli- 
gation. " He that is faithful in that which is 
least, is faithful also in much*." A good man 
feels, besides, that he must be perpetually on his 
guard against every species of self-deceit, which 
would tempt him to prefer the easy to the dif- 
ficult service; which would lead him to mis- 
take the conduct to which his inclinations prompt 
him, for that which he ought to do; or which 
would conceal from his view his neglect of 
known and essential duties. 

Following this doctrine a step farther, I direct 
you, 

II. To the self-denial necessary in renouncing 
■ - the sins which most easily beset us 

Religion certainly requires, that we shall de- 
ny ourselves to every thing, which we have any 
reason to suppose will operate on our minds as 
a temptation to sin. It commands us to reject 
the pleasures and advantages of this life in eve? 



* I^uke xvi. 10. 



f Heb. xii. 1* 



8£ 



SELF-DENIAL. 



SER. 3, 



ry instance, in which they would influence or 
entice us to violate our indispensable duties. 

But the self-denial, which is of most import- 
ance to every individual man, is evidently that by 
which he ought to resist his strongest tempta- 
tions; those temptations which are in a peculiar 
manner adapted to the inclinations of his heart, or 
to his ruling passions ; from which he has most 
danger to apprehend, and which it requires the 
greatest vigilance to avoid, or the greatest 
strength of resolution to overcome. 

This is a, branch pf self-denial to which men 
will ever be most unwilling to direct their ef- 
forts. Self-deceit is never more agreeable to 
us, and is never more successful in perverting 
pur conduct, than when it either represents the 
sins to which we are most inclined in a fa- 
vourable light, as offences which may be soon 
compensated, or leads us to consider the strug- 
gle against them as an unnecessary severity 
which religion does not strictly enjoin, or as a 
useless encroachment on satisfactions, which we 
are unwilling to relinquish. Men persist in 
sins which gratify their private inclinations, and 
persuade themselves, that their fidelity, or their 



gER, 3. SELF-DENIAL. 83 

self-denial in other points, will outweigh this cir- 
cumstance when their characters shall be tried. 

On the other hand, they are not entirely 
ignorant of the deception which they practise 
on their own minds; and are far from being- 
able to reconcile their consciences to their con- 
duct. They have a consciousness of their 
guilt, even at the moment when they are la« 
bouring to palliate, or to disguise it; and it fre- 
quently happens that, in opposition to their 
practice, they are compelled to form strong and 
repeated resolutions to renounce the pursuits, 
from which they find it impossible to separate 
the impressions of guilt. But neither their con- 
victions nor their best resolutions avail them, 
when their peculiar temptations return. The 
present temptation^ are always as fascinating and 
as irresistible as those which preceded them. 
The struggle with themselves becomes gradually 
less. As they advance in life, their habits are con- 
firmed ; and till they are 50, the sins, into which 
they are successively betrayed, meet every day 
with less resistance from the temper of their 
minds. 

It would be easy to specify minute examples 

f 2! 



84 



SELF-DENIAL. 



SER. 3. 



in the conduct of individual men; from the 
sensual vices of excess, or of intemperance, from 
the effects of violent or of strong passions, from 
the arts of deceit or of malignity, from the 
pursuits of avarice or of ambition. It is diffi- 
cult to persuade men to practise an efficient 
self-denial in any one of these instances, against 
the sins which they permit to be gradually in- 
terwoven with their pursuits in the world, or 
with the character of their minds. It is more 
difficult still to convince them, that without this 
self-denial, or without an earnest and habitual 
solicitude to subdue every inclination to the sins 
to which they have peculiar temptations, they 
cannot be the disciples of Christ. 

But, it is not necessary to mention examples: 
for every man, who attends to the state of his 
own mind, knows minutely the sins, with re- 
gard to which he feels himself least disposed to 
practise self-denial; the sins into which he is 
most frequently betrayed, contrary to his delibe- 
rate convictions of duty, and in opposition to 
his best resolutions. He knows, with how 
much industry he labours to reconcile his 
conscience to his peculiar vices ; and how often 



SER. 3. 



SELF-DENIAL, 



85 



he endeavours to persuade himself, that if he 
shall only practise self-denial in other points, his 
want of it in these instances will not be ulti- 
mately charged to his account, 

I beseech those, who are conscious that this 
is truly their state of mind, to consider delibe- 
rately what our Lord has said to them all : " If 
any man will come after me, let him deny him- 
self." Did he mean that we are only to prac- 
tise self-denial in the cases in which we have no 
strong inclinations to subdue? Or did he intend 
to say, that self-denial, in other instances, would 
be a sufficient test of our fidelity to him, al- 
though we should allow ourselves the indulgence 
of " the sins which most easily beset us?" Let 
us read what he has expressly said, to ascertain 
his meaning precisely. " If thy right eye of- 
fend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee ; 
for it is profitable for thee, that one of thy mem- 
bers should perish, and not that thy whole body 
should be cast into hell. And if thy right 
hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from 
thee ; for it is profitable for thee, that one of thy 
members should perish, and not that thy whole 



$6 SELF-DENIAL. SER. 5. 

body should be cast into hell*." The self-de- 
nial which our Lord urges on our consciences, is 
self-denial in the situations in which it is most 
difficult to practise it; because these are the si- 
tuations in which it is of most importance to the 
purity and to the fidelity of his disciples. It is 
self-denial with regard to the sins which either 
are already, or which are in danger of becom- 
ing our predominant habits ; a discipline adapt- 
ed to the condition of human nature, to which 
every man is required to subject himself, who 
" would save his soul from death," or from the 
" multitude of sins." 

This part of the doctrine chiefly relates to 
those who do not habitually feel " the powers 
of the world to come," or who do not heartily 
acquiesce in the authority of religion. But it 
brings home a strong admonition to better men, 
who are sensible of the infirmities, which ad- 
here to them during all the course of their pro- 
bation, " lest any of them be hardened through 
the deceitfulness of sin f ." It requires a perpe- 
tual discipline, or self-denial, to the end of our 
lives, to be able to resist effectually " the sins 

* Matth. v. 29- 30c «f Heb. iii. 13. 



> 



9ER. 3. SELF-DENIAL. 87 

which most easily beset us." If we have grace 
to persevere in it, M we know that our labour 
is not in vain in the Lord*." We are certain of 
strength above our own to meet both our temp- 
tations and our infirmities, so as to assure us of 
ultimate success. We shall never regret either 
the struggles or the sacrifices to which our fide- 
lity subjects us; and the victory over ourselves, 
be it in articles greater or less, will be a source 
of permanent satisfaction, beyond all that we 
can receive from the pleasures of this world. 

On the other hand, we are certain that, " if 
any man will not deny himself," in such situa- 
tions as those which I have represented, no de- 
gree of austerity in other points can at all avail 
him. His deficiency in the self-command 
which Christianity enjoins, will be as ruinous to 
his happiness in the present life, as it is fatal to 
his interests in the world to come. 

It was necessary, on this subject, to direct 
your first attention to essential duties, and to po- 
sitive sins. But there are other articles to which 
the self-denial of the text extends, and in which 



* 1 Cor. xv. 5S. 



88 



SELF-DENIAL, 



SER. 3. 



we must learn to practise it, if we are in earnest 
to preserve the purity, or the spirit of vital re- 
ligion. And, therefore^ I request your atten- 
tion, 

III. To the self-denial requisite with regard 
to every thing which is, either in itself, or by its 
consequences, unfavourable to our progress in 
practical religion; 

Though we should not be perverted from our 
essential duties, there are perpetual obstructions 
to our progress in religion, arising from the pre- 
sent condition of human life. It is impossible 
not to perceive, that to guard ourselves effectu- 
ally from the pollutions of the world, and to 
preserve to religion such a power over our af- 
fections, as is essential to its influence on our 
conduct, we are under an indispensible obliga- 
tion to relinquish and to avoid many things, 
which are by themselves no direct violations 
of our positive obligations ; but which we know 
from experience to have a tendency to betray 
us into sins, or to render us unfit for dischar- 
ging our personal duties, or to deprive us of the 
means by which our duties ought to be fulfilled. 

I shall mention a few examples to illustrate 



SER. 3. 



SELF-DENIAL, 



89 



this assertion; though every individual man is 
best qualified to suggest the illustrations of it 
which are of most importance to himself, from 
his intimate knowledge of his own life. 

I begin with an example, of which those only 
will feel the force, who believe that religion ought 
to predominate in all our conduct, and that its 
influence may be often injured, when there is 
no settled design to disavow its obligations. 

Men of strong animal spirits, who have that 
kind of intercourse with the world which is suit- 
ed to their peculiar temper, must be conscious 
of the errors into which their love of gaiety 
often betrays them, of the dangerous situa- 
tions to which it introduces them, of the temp- 
tations for which it prepares them, and of its 
perpetual tendency to dissipate and interrupt the 
serious or deliberate reflections, which are es- 
sential to the stedfastness, and to the uniform te- 
nor of all good conduct. 

If they have ever experienced any considera* 
ble impressions of religion, they are too often led 
on from one indulgence to another, unfriendly to 
their progress in practical duties, till the influ- 
ence of religion on their minds becomes at last 



90 



SELF-DENIAL. 



SEK. 5* 



so weak, as to be incapable of resisting any strong 
temptation. Their original temper, and the so- 
ciety in which they Jive, betray them into so 
many things in succession which Christianity 
condemns, that they find it necessary at last to 
relieve themselves from their own reproach, by 
endeavouring to reconcile their consciences to 
their conduct. They overcome one religious 
restraint after another ; and though they are far 
from being satisfied with themselves, their ani- 
mal spirits support them, even after they have 
lost their internal tranquillity. 

It is certain that religion does not require lis 
to relinquish the gaiety of temper, in which one 
man so often surpasses another, and which so 
Well enables those who possess it in a superior 
degree, both to enjoy and to embellish the con- 
ditions of this life. On the contrary, the religion 
which is pure affords us better reasons to be 
chearful, than can be derived from any other 
sourcej and to enjoy the society of chearful 
men. 

But, on the other hand, religion prescribes to 
us that kind of self-denial which sets a watch 
around the heart and mind against the tempta- 



5ER. 3. 



SfiLF-DENIAL. 



91 



tions, of which this general temper so often be- 
comes the instrument We are under an indis- 
pensible obligation to restrain ourselves, when 
We are sensible that our love of gaiety would 
lead us farther than we ought to go ; when it 
is in danger of connecting us with those whose 
society we ought not to cultivate ; when it 
would bring us into an intercourse with the 
world inconsistent with our essential duties; 
when we perceive that it encroaches on the 
habits which We have learnt from the gospel ; 
or when, by dissipating our minds, it is in dan- 
ger of withdrawing us from the discipline, or 
disqualifying us for the duties, of religion. 

Those who are governed more by inclination 
than by principle, are seldom disposed to allow 
the danger of an indulgence, from which they 
receive much private satisfaction. Because that 
fyrhich they are admonished to avoid is not posi- 
tively unlawful, and becomes pernicious only 
from its excess or from its consequences, they 
defend their practice by denying that their gaiety 
is carried to excess, and are not willing in the 
mean time to examine its moral effects mi* 
nutely* 



SELF-DENIAL. 



SER. 3. 



On this point it is sufficient to say, that both 
the excess and the effects may be safely appeal- 
ed to their own consciences, and to their deli- 
berate reflections. It is impossible to deny, that 
every man " professing godliness" is as really 
under an obligation to relinquish that which he 
has found from experience to be pernicious to 
the general influence of religion on his mind, or 
to his fidelity in particular duties ; or which he 
knows to have exposed him to dangerous temp- 
tations ; as he can be bound to practise seif- 
denial in any other instance which can be men- 
tioned. We may disguise the matter to our- 
selves as long as the strength of our animal 
spirits is entire. But there is a time approach- 
ing, when the sentence we shall pronounce on 
our conduct will be equally dispassionate and 
just. Our habits in the present life, and the in- 
nocence or the danger which ought to be as- 
cribed to them, will then be estimated by their 
inseparable connexion with our final condition 
as immortal beings. There is a striking admoni- 
tion given by the apostle Paul, which ought not 
to be read without the most solemn attention. 
"Brethren, the time is short;— it remaineth — 



SER. 3. 



SELF-DENIAL* 



93 



that they who rejoice be as though they rejoi- 
ced not ; — for the fashion of this world passeth 
away . 

Another example may be taken from the cha- 
racter of those whose natural temper is ardent 
or sanguine, who must have more occasion than 
cooler men for the exercise of self-denial. 

This peculiarity of temper is in itself neither 
a vice nor a defect ; but, on the contrary, if it 
is restrained within the limits of duty, may be 
made subservient to the most important pur- 
poses in human conduct. It renders men of 
principle the most active, the most useful, the 
most faithful members of the societies to which 
they belong, and of the church of God. Their 
natural ardour, chastened by principle and re- 
strained by habit, exerts itself where it has full 
scope, for the glory of God, for the advantage 
of human life, and for the various ends and 
duties on which either their usefulness or their 
fidelity depends. 

But the same general character, when it is 
kept under no effectual restraint, involves quali- 
ties of the most pernicious kind. Of this truth^ 

* 1 Cor. vii. 30. $h 



94 



SELF-DENIAL. 



SER. 3* 



those to whom the character belongs, have al- 
most universally the same experience. The heat 
df their temper, the violence of their passions, 
and even the ardour of their good affections, 
excited by frequent temptations, and indulged 
without restraint, not only bring them into si- 
tuations in which they act in opposition to their 
most deliberate intentions, but, as they advance 
in life, render the impulse of the moment too 
often sufficient to overwhelm the most powerful 
considerations both of duty and of religion. 

Men allow themselves to believe that as long 
as their sanguine character has led them intq 
nothing habitual, in contradiction to the posi- 
tive law of the gospel, they have no reason to 
condemn themselves with severity. They do 
not consider, that every disposition of the hu- 
man heart, which is permanently indulged be- 
yond its due measure, operates as an effectual 
obstruction to the spirit of religion ; and that 
the influence of strong passions, which are nei- 
ther watched nor restrained, has a gradual pro- 
gress in the characters of mankind, extending 
itself insensibly, from single violations of duty 



SER. 3. 



SELF-DENIAL* 



95 



to general manners, and from early infirmities 
to confirmed habits. 

The self-command which enables a Christian 
to restrain the natural impetuosity of his mind, 
so as to render it uniformly or habitually sub- 
servient to his personal duties, is certainly a 
great attainment. But without it, religion main* 
tains no decided influence on human conduct ; 
and though the best of us possess it in very dif- 
ferent degrees, all our perseverance in it is ac- 
companied with a proportional progress in the 
spirit of religion, and with an inward satisfac- 
tion which more tlian rewards us for every 
struggle which it requires. 

The varieties in our tempers and situations, 
produce a proportional variety in the objects 
of our self-denial. The restraint which is essen- 
tial to the progress of religion in one man's mind, 
does not relate to the points in which self-com- 
mand is of most importance to another. 

Those who have from Nature a cool or a frigid 
temperament, have seldom a struggle to maintain 
either with the gaiety or with the impetuosity 
of their minds. But they have to combat what it 
is perhaps more difficult; to overcome ; the lan* 



96 



SELF-DENIAL. 



SER. 3. 



guor of affections which are seldom roused, and 
which are never warm ; or the cold insensibili- 
ty of mind which receives or retains no strong 
impressions. It is not without a struggle with 
themselves, that they enter deeply into any sub- 
ject, or earnestly into any duty. It requires 
both great strength of principle, and much of 
the grace of God, who " quickeneth whomso- 
ever he will," to keep their minds alive to the 
minute practice of religion ; and it is still more 
difficult to influence their conduct by means of 
religious, affections, or to bring them into the 
state of mind which the apostle expresses by 
" peace and joy in believing." 

This idea suggests another. There is in all 
men a tendency to sloth, more fatal to the in-? 
fluence of religion than the effect of many temp* 
tations. Whatever our general resolutions are, if 
we are not constantly on our guard, there is an 
indolence which is apt to work itself into our 
habits by imperceptible degrees ; soliciting us to 
neglect the discipline of our own minds ; to ne^ 
gleet the exercises of devotion on which so 
much of the spirit of religion depends ; to ne- 
glect the duties which require from us any sen- 



SB ft. 3. 



SELF-DENIAL. 



97 



sible exertion or self denial; to suspend the vi- 
gilance by which we ought to arm ourselves 
against our peculiar temptations ; to allow our- 
selves to be engrossed by the concerns of this 
transitory life, and to bestow but a small portion 
either of our thoughts or of our tirne on the 
permanent interests of the world to come. 

To resist this tendency of the niind in its 
rise and its progress, there is a self-denial which, 
how different soever their peculiar tempers are, 
Christians must practise all their lives, and 
which is essential to their fidelity in every de- 
partment of duty. A good man " commits 
the keeping of his soul to pod," and expects; 
from his influence and grace the salutary effects 
of his own vigilance. But, on the other hand, 
it must be evident, that hp who will not " deny 
himself," so as to maintain an effectual struggle 
against the sloth, which strikes at the root of 
religion in his mind, and of all its practice in. 
the world, cannot be the disciple of £hrist. 

I think it unnecessary to mention any other 
minute examples on this part of the subject. 
But it is of importance to add, that he who 
would possess or preserve the spirit of vital 

G 



98 



SELF-DENIAL. 



SER. 3. 



religion in his own life, is under an indispen- 
sible obligation to relinquish, with a firm and 
decided resolution, whatsoever he knows from 
his experience to have a pernicious influence on 
the temper of his mind, on the turn of his 
thoughts, on the affections which he ought to 
cultivate, or on those which he is bound to sub- 
due, on the faithful employment of his time, 
or on the vigorous exercise of his talents. 

No man renounces self-denial in these in- 
stances, who does not sacrifice both his present 
tranquillity and his general happiness. On the 
other hand, it requires both faith and fortitude 
to persist in the course of duty which the text 
prescribes. But that which is begun in weak- 
ness shall be perfected in power. He whose 
faith in the Son of God has really taught him 
self-denial, " shall go from strength to strength." 
His struggles with himself become every day- 
less, in proportion to his perseverance; and the 
farther he advances, the path of life is smoother 
before him. His power over himself, and the 
earnestness with which he applies to his essen- 
tial duties, increase in proportion to the expe- 
rience which he acquires; and that course of 



SER. 3. 



SELF-DENIAL. 



99 



life which a worldly man contemplates with 
perpetual impatience or disgust, is the source of 
his purest and most permanent satisfactions. 

On the other hand it is certain, that no man 
becomes so perfect in this world, as to have no 
more struggles to maintain. Every successive 
period of human life, brings forward new temp- 
tations, or new circumstances to convince us, 
that we have still inclinations which require to 
be watched or to be subdued. Our warfare 
must, therefore, be firmly supported to the end 
of our probation; and " patience" must have 
" its perfect work," till we are " perfect and 
entire, wanting nothing*." 

But let it not be imagined that this doctrine 
supposes Christianity in practice to require a 
severity of discipline, or a degree of patience, to 
which there is nothing analogous in the other 
pursuits of human life. To be satisfied on this 
subject, we have only to represent to ourselves 
the self-denial requisite in order to acquire the 
qualifications necessary for any art or profes- 
sion ; the labour and patience inseparable from 
the exercise of every man's particular occupa^ 

* James i. 4. 



100 



SELF-DENIAL. 



SER. 3. 



tion ; the many sacrifices which we are com- 
pelled to make of our inclinations, both to very 
distant expectations, and to the most uncertain 
prospects of success in life; the drudgery, the 
hardships, the self-government, to which men 
patiently submit in their worldly affairs, for the 
sake of what is at last but a transitory reward, 
even when they are permitted to attain it. 

The happiness and prosperity of human life 
depend on the practice and on the effects of 
self-denial in all these different instances. Chris- 
tianity prescribes a discipline of much less se- 
verity. The reward which it annexes to our 
perseverance, in the mean time, is far greater. 
The ultimate result which it presents to our 
view, is incomparably more certain, and is be- 
yond our highest hope. The perfection of our 
nature, and our happiness through eternal ages, 
are to compensate our fidelity during the period 
of a short probation. " Every man," says the 
apostle, " that striveth for the mastery, is tem- 
perate in all things ; now they do this to obtain 
a corruptible crown, but we to obtain an in- 
corruptible*." 

* 1 Cor, ix. 25. 



SER. 3. 



SELF-DENIAL. 



101 



That " the children of this world" may not 
be always " wiser than the children of light," 
let us " suffer the word of exhortation." " Let 
us lay aside every weight, and the sin which 
doth so easily beset us; and let us run with 
patience the race that is set before us, looking 
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, 
who, for the joy that was set before him, en- 
dured the cross, despising the shame, and is set 
down at the right hand of God *." " If any 
man will come after" him, " let him deny him- 
self, and take up his cross daily and follow" 
him f. 

" Now the God of peace that brought again 
from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shep- 
herd of the sheep, through the blood of the 
everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every 
good work to do his will, working in you that 
which is well-pleasing in his sight, through 
Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and 
ever, amen^." 



* Heb. xii. 1. 2. 
jHeb. xiii. 20. 21. 



t Luke ix. 23. 



SERMON IV. 

ON 

THE FORM OF GODLINESS, 



2 TIMOTHY iii. 5. 

" Having a form of godliness, but denying the 
power thereof: from such turn away *." 

TThis text represents to us one of the leading 
or prominent characters of the last ages, of 
which so many descriptions are given us in the 
New Testament. " This know also," the 
apostle says at the beginning of- this chapter, 
" that in the last days perilous times shall come." 
He exhibits a variety of melancholy features in 
the character of the times to which he alludes, 

* Preached February 12. 1801, the day appointed by the 
King for a General Fast 



SER. 4. 



THE FORM OF GODLINESS. 



103 



and completes the representation of them by 
affirming in the text, that men shall then " have 
the form of godliness, who deny the power 
thereof." 

He had not in his view the hypocrites of any 
age, who conceal their true characters under the 
mask of religion ; or who cover their secret de- 
pravity by a high-sounding zeal for religious 
doctrines, or by a strict or ostentatious observa- 
tion of religious rites. Though hypocrites have 
abounded in all ages of the world, and though 
hypocrisy may be used to cover any vice or 
crime, the terms " boasters, blasphemers, truce- 
breakers, traitors, high-minded men," found in the 
verses preceding this text, are certainly not the 
descriptions of hypocrisy; but, on the contrary, 
must be applied to men whose conduct is both 
decided and avowed. And as the different parts of 
the apostle's description are manifestly applied to 
the same characters and to the same periods, and 
are all summed up or comprehended in the text 
before us, it is certain that it is not of hypocrites 
of whom he intended to say, that 9 they have a 
form of godliness, but deny the power thereof." 
On the contrary, the leading features of the 



104 THE FORM OF GODLINESS. SER. 4 



characters which he meant to describe, are the 
reverse of hypocrisy. Hypocrites do not " deny 
the power of godliness," but they falsely and in- 
sincerely profess to feel its power. Their zeal 
for the forms ' is employed to conceal the false* 
hood by which they pretend to the spirit of re- 
ligion. They are conscious of the power which 
religion possesses in the characters of good men ; 
and it is to persuade the world, in contradiction 
to the fact, that they have the personal experi- 
ence of its influence, that all their hypocrisy is 
employed. 

The characters to which the apostle's descrip- 
tion is applied, are manifestly the characters of 
men who reject the substance of Christianity, 
while they profess to acknowledge or to con- 
tend for the forms of it : of men, whose general 
manners are an explicit, disavowal of the au- 
thority of religion, and of its power to bind the 
conscience, notwithstanding the zeal which they 
express for its external rites. The apostle re- 
presents minutely the manners of those whom 
he describes, contrasting them with " the form 
of godliness" which they assume ; and the pe- 
culiar features which he attributes to their cha- 



6ER« 4. THE FORM OF GODLINESS, 105 

racters, he affirms to be the leading and peculiar 
features of " the last, or perilous times," of 
which he meant to forewarn the church of 
Christ. 

In the language of the New Testament, " the 
last days" do not signify the last years of the 
world : but in general represent the whole 
period from the first promulgation of Christiani- 
ty to the time when the world shall end, as dis- 
tinguished from the early and intermediate ages. 
And though the apostle certainly intended to ad- 
monish the believers generally, that Christianity 
held out to them no exemption from the perils 
arising either from unprincipled men or from 
false brethren ; his minute description of " the 
perilous times" to which the whole section from 
the beginning of this chapter relates, must be 
interpreted and applied by means of the pro« 
minent characters which he assigns to them. 

The manners which he describes may cer- 
tainly be found in different ages. But it is our 
business to consider how far they have fallen 
under our own observation, or are applicable to 
our own times : for we may be fully assured, 
that if such characters of " the perilous times" 



106 



THE FORM OF GODLINESS. 



SER. 4. 



are come down to us, we have strong reasons 
indeed for repentance, and most impressive ad- 
monitions both from the word and from the 
providence of God. I shall, 

I. Inquire how far the present times are dis- 
tinguished by men's attachment to " the form 
of godliness." II. Consider how far it appears 
from the characters specified by the apostle, that 
the same men " deny the power of godliness," 
who are zealous in contending for " the form" 
of it. And then, III. Endeavour to make ap- 
plication of the doctrine, by illustrating the 
apostle's admonition, " to turn away" from the 
characters which this text represents to us. I 
am, 

I. To inquire how far the present times are 
distinguished by an attachment to " the form of 
godliness." 

It cannot be affirmed, that in private life there 
is at present any unusual attention to religious 
institutions, or that the observation of the forms 
of religion, is either more exact or more con- 
spicuous than in former times. On the con- 
trary, it must be admitted, though it is a melan- 
choly truth, that the tendency of the present 



5ER. 4. THE FORM OF GODLINESS. 107 

times is to individual relaxation, with regard to 
every thing which relates to the profession or to 
the rites of religion. Whether our private man* 
ners are better or worse, it is certain that there 
is much less general solicitude to preserve the 
form or appearance of personal godliness, than 
we know to have distinguished the times of our 
fathers. This fact is undeniable ; and I men- 
tion it now, without any other remark, than that 
it proves to us, that it is not in our private or 
individual capacities, that the present times are 
distinguished by any peculiar attachment to " the 
forms" of religion. 

But there is another view of the subject, in 
which a zealous contention for " the forms" of 
religion, has certainly become a prominent fea- 
ture of the age in which we live. 

The infidelity and the crimes which have for 
so many years desolated Europe, have sounded 
a just alarm to the countries which have hither- 
to preserved their tranquillity. That unprin- 
cipled system *, which, not satisfied with dis- 
solving the whole fabric of a corrupt church, 

# Alluding to the system which produced the revolution in 
France. 



108 THE FORM OF GODLINESS. 



SER. 4. 



proscribed Christianity itself as a pestilent su- 
perstition ; and which avowedly set the people 
loose from every Christian institution, and from 
every rite which bears the name of religion; 
was naturally dreaded everywhere, as the har- 
binger of the anarchy and crimes, which were 
its first effects. Men who would have felt little 
for religion, trembled for the public order and 
for the civil government of their own country. 
They began to perceive, that the innovations 
which commence with the contempt of religious 
institutions, trample on every thing else in their 
progress; till at last, with the altar, which they 
profess to overthrow, they level every other es- 
tablishment essential to the existence of political 
society. 

From these impressions, derived from events 
which are but yet in their progress, has arisen 
a solicitude for public religion, and for the pre- 
servation of religious institutions, so general and 
impressive, as to give a character to the present 
time. Men of every order have been roused : 
and professing to feel alike; notwithstanding the 
diversity of their private characters, have ranged 
themselves with the same apparent zeal, among 



SER. 4. THE FORM OF GODLINESS. 109 

those who contend earnestly for the religious 
establishments, and who profess to see the im- 
portance of guarding them from neglect or vio- 
lation. 

It is a most interesting fact to those who are 
sincerely attached to the gospel, that, in all the 
variety of ranks and characters around them, 
every dispassionate man professes to feel the im- 
portance of the ordinances of religion, and at 
least pretends to give his help in maintaining 
their authority. Every man who calls himself 
a friend to good order or to good government, 
a friend to the laws or to the prosperity of his 
country, expresses a strong persuasion of the 
importance of the institutions of Christianity to 
the best interests of human life, and of the ne- 
cessity of preserving their salutary influence on 
the conditions of the people. There is a con- 
viction, more impressive than ever, among every 
description of men, not only that religion and 
religious rites are essential to the order and hap- 
piness of mankind ; but that fidelity to the king 
and to the laws is not to be separated from a 
zeal to support the authority and the forms of 
religion. 



110 THE FORM OF GODLINESS. SER. 4. 

The impressions which this language conveys 
would be important indeed, if men were as zea- 
lous for personal as for public religion ; if they 
were as much in earnest in contending for the 
substance of Christianity, as they profess to be 
for maintaining its external institutions ; if they 
were as solicitous for the sanctification and sal- 
vation of the people, and for their own sancti- 
fication by the faith of the gospel, as they pro- 
fess to be for the order and tranquillity of the 
world, to which they would render the institu- 
tions of Christianity subservient; and if their 
reverence for Christ and for his ordinances, had 
the same place in their private conduct, which 
they profess to give it in their political opinions. 

There are certainly men of whom all this can 
be truly said ; men, too, who have been roused 
by means of the events whicli I have mention- 
ed, to think more seriously than they did be- 
fore, of the importance of practical and personal 
religion, as well as of Christian institutions, to 
the present and eternal interests of mankind ; 
men, who are prepared to contend for the sub- 
stance, more than they ever contended for " the 
forms of godliness however important they 



S£R. 4. THE FORM OF GODLINESS. Ill 



believe these to be to the happiness and salva- 
tion of the world. 

But, humbling as the reflection is, it cannot be 
pretended or affirmed with truth, that this is in 
any respect the general character of the present 
times ; or that the solicitude for private and per- 
sonal, bears any -proportion to the zeal which 
has been professed for public and external re- 
ligion. 

Men, heated by the controversies of the day, 
acquire a zeal for the forms of religion, which 
has but little relation to their personal conduct, 
and which does not go beyond the circum- 
stances which produced it. They imagine that 
they see the importance of religion to the pre- 
sent tranquillity of the world ; and are therefore 
willing to give their help, or at least, when it is 
directly put to them, to give their voice, to pre- 
serve its external institutions. But they have 
not allowed themselves to observe, that public 
without personal religion can have no substan- 
tial or permanent effect. They have not brought 
themselves to consider Christianity as that which 
ought to come home to their own minds; as it 
binds the conscience ; as it becomes the govern- 



112 THE FORM OF GODLINESS. SER. 4. 

ing principle of human conduct; as it holds out 
Christ to the world as " the wisdom of God 
and the power of God to every one who be- 
lieveth ;" or as it persuades men " to work out 
their salvation with fear and trembling," before 
it becomes, in any instance, the principle of fide- 
lity in the duties of the present life. 

It is certain, that the external rites may be 
strictly observed, when they are completely se- 
parated from the spirit of religion. Men may 
contend earnestly for the institutions of Chris- 
tianity, who are personally indifferent both to 
its substance and to its general design. " The 
forms of godliness" may acquire an importance 
as a branch of a political system, which is not 
conceded to them as the ordinances of Christ, 
or as the means of salvation. 

But the text before us goes a step farther than 
any of these suppositions. It affirms, that " in 
the perilous times," men " shall have a form of 
godliness, who shall deny the power thereof:'* 
and the meaning of the assertion is obviously 
this, that they shall not only be indifferent to 
the substance or the power of Christianity, while 
they contend for " the forms of it ;" but shall 



SER. 4. THE FORM OF GODLINESS, 113 

go so far as to deny that it has a substance or a 
power to reach the conscience, or to bind it. 

This is a strong assertion, when applied to 
any species or appearance of zeal for religion. 
But the apostle has referred us to specific facts, 
on which every application of his assertion must 
depend ; and which deserve to be considered 
with the most solemn attention as the charac- 
ters given us of " the perilous times." I am 
now, therefore, 

II. To consider, how far it appears, from the 
characters specified by the apostle, that the same 
men " deny the power of godliness, " who are 
zealous in contending for " the form" of it. 

It is obvious, that men will not readily deny 
in words, the substance of Christianity, while 
they profess to maintain the authority of its in^ 
stitutions. It is only from their conduct, or 
from their peculiar manners, that we can learn 
their real views and impressions. 

The apostle has given us a most minute de- 
scription of the manners which he connects 
with " the perilous times." " This know also, 
that in the last days perilous times shall 
come. For men shall be lovers of their own- 

H 



114 



THE FORM OF GODLINESS. 



SER. 4. 



selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, 
disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy; 
without natural affection, truce-breakers, false ac- 
cusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that 
are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of 
pleasures more than lovers of God; having a 
form of godliness, but denying the power there?? 
of." 

The manners, which are here enumerated, do 
not convey to us the idea of the first ap- 
proaches to degeneracy, or of a variety of slight 
deviations from principle or duty. They repre- 
sent to us the hard, unprincipled, and deter? 
mined, manners of an age of luxury : and these 
are described as united tp " the form of godli- 
ness," although they contain the most explicit 
and direct disavowal of its power and sub^ 
stance *. 

I cannot illustrate all the particulars which 
the apostle has specified, though every one of 
them bears directly on the point to which they 

* The description has been generally, and perhaps justly, 
applied to the reign of Antichrist. But the apostle John tells 
us, (1 John ii. 18.) that in # the last time," " there are many 
Antichrists" 



$ER. 4. THE FORM OF GODLINESS. 115 

are applied. But I shall turn your attention tp 
a few of them as examples ; and consider how 
far the description is in these articles applicable 
to our times. The particulars which I select 
are these following: " Men shall be lovers of 
their ownselves, and covetous, — blasphemers,™ 
lovers of pleasures more tl)an lovers of God,— 
despisers of those that are good." 

(1.) It is affirmed, that " in the perilous 
times, men shall be lovers of their ownselves, 
and covetous." 

The assertion is plainly this, that selfishness 
and rapacity were to constitute one of the pe- 
culiar features of those times; and that the sel- 
fish passions, the love of gain, and the rage for 
wealth, were then to become general or pre- 
dominating characters among all the orders of 
the people. 

It is impossible not to perceive, in the cha- 
racter of our own country, that the rage for 
wealth has gradually diffused itself through the 
various conditions of the people, and above the 
proportion of the means of attaining it ; till it 
has gone as far beyond the experience as the 
anticipations of former times. Expensive living 
h 2 



116 



THE FORM OF GODLINESS. 



SElt. 4. 



and expensive pleasures have had an unexam- 
pled progress among the different ranks of 
men : and to support them, there is a- degree of 
general rapacity created, which assumes all the 
various aspects which it can derive from the 
variety of our conditions ; and which it is 
more useful to deplore than to describe. With 
all the strong impressions we receive of public 
and of private* calamities, every man pursues 
his separate interests steadily and firmly, uncon- 
scious of the influence of his success to add to 
the pressure of the times, or disregarding it; 
while the gains of no individual man awaken 
our alarms, amidst the accumulations and cupi- 
dity of the multitude around him. 

There is an infinite variety in the aspects, 
which the spirit of the world and the spirit of 
selfishness assume ; and in the false virtues, 
united to the profusion and the rapacities of the 
present times, there are as many striking, or at 
least apparent, contradictions. But the facts 
which I have mentioned, are sufficient to give 

* Alluding to the scarcity in 1800-1801, when this sermon 
was preached. 



SEtt. 4. THE FORM OF GODLINESS. 



117 



us a precise idea of the apostle's description; 
" men shall be lovers of their ownselves, and 
covetous." 

Christ has said to us, " ye cannot serve God 
and Mammon." It is possible to have all the 
selfishness of the world, and, at the same time, 
to support e S the forms" of religion. In as far 
as these are supposed to contribute to the tran- 
quillity of nations, it is natural to believe that 
they are not useless in promoting the prospe- 
rity of selfish men. It is as easy to con- 
ceive, why men should contend for them ear- 
nestly, and should be active in guarding them 
from violation, as long as they see in them the 
means of security or of advantage to the world, 
though they carry their views no higher. 

But, on the other hand, it is impossible that 
the same men should not " deny the power of 
godliness," amidst all their zeal for te the forms 
of it." The godliness which restrains their sel- 
fishness, which condemns their avarice, which 
forbids their unhallowed gains, and which com- 
mands them " to repent in dust and ashes," 
they cannot either reverence or receive, till they 
cease to be what they are. " The power" 



118 THE FORM OF GODLINESS. SER. 4. 

which they do not feel, and which they are re- 
solute in resisting, they must and do " deny." 
They contend for " the forms of godliness f 
but in "the forms" their religion terminates. 
If these shall help in any degree to promote the 
tranquillity of the World, they afford a sufficient 
motive for their attachment to them. But their 
zeal, proceeding from such a motive, is no- 
thing better than the clamour of the crafts- 
men of Ephesus, who " made their gain by the 
shrines of Diana," and who cried out together 
against the apostles of the Lord, " Great is 
.Diana of the Ephesians They are as hostile 
to " the power of godliness" which binds the 
conscience, which " purifies the heart," and 
which determines men " to seek first the king- 
dom of God," as the most inveterate of the 
craftsmen of Ephesus were, or as the most re- 
solute unbelievers are. 

The conclusion from this representation is 
melancholy indeed. But it is the result of facts 
which every man may examine for himself; 
and it is useful for us to consider it, if we would 
guard our zeal for " the forms of godliness," by 

* Acts xix. 34. 



3ER. 4. THE FORM OF GODLINESS. 



M9 



our full persuasion and our awe of its " power:" 
if we would separate the true spirit of Chris- 
tianity, from the zeal which is guided by the 
spirit of the world, and " would not be par- 
takers of other men's sins." 

(2.) The apostle affirms of " the perilous 
times," that men shall then be blasphemers," 
although they shall notwithstanding have " the 
form of godliness." 

Blasphemy is the highest and most pointed 
expression of irreverence for God, which men 
can convey by words; of irreverence for the 
name or for the attributes of God ; of irre- 
verence for the name, for the doctrine, or for 
the authority, of Christ. 

There can be but few examples of solemn 
blasphemy; because there are not many occa- 
sions to produce it. But the blasphemy of the 
profane is perpetual : and it has unhappily been, 
for ages, observed to form a remarkable feature in 
the character of our own country*. The shock- 
ing oaths or imprecations which are employed to 
embellish the most frivolous or unmeaning con- 
versation, or to give something like point or 



* Henrys History, vol. x. ch. 7. octavo edition. 



120 



THE FORM OF GODLINESS. SER. 4. 



energy to the gaiety, or the passionate decla- 
mations, of unprincipled men, have been the 
reproach of every age, and are more and more 
incorporated with the manners of every rank of 
the people. 

But it was reserved for " the perilous times" 
to bring forward, from the different conditions 
of life, profane men, who, without any active 
part assigned them, and with no personal awe 
of religion, should publicly unite to contend 
with zeal for " the forms of godliness." Men 
stand up among us to deplore the progress of 
infidelity, and its ravages on the earth, eager to 
bring forward their personal solicitude for the 
preservation and for the reverence of religion 
among the people ; who can scarcely find words 
to express their zeal, without blaspheming " by 
heaven and by him that dwelleth therein ;" by 
" Christ the Son of the living God," and by 
every "other manner of oath." They contend 
at this moment for " the forms" of religion, as 
if they involved the most important interests of 
human life ; and they cannot speak of the most 
common things, in the most common way, 
without the most direct and unqualified profa- 



SER. 4. THE FOilM OF GODLINESS. 121 



nation of the name of God ; in utter contempt 
of every thing which pertains to godliness, ei- 
ther in form or in substance. We find this 
character of our degeneracy, not merely among 
the dissipated and thoughtless youth, whose 
principles and manners are not yet established, 
or among ignorant and empty declaimers, who 
have no knowledge or no character; but we 
find it also, among men who possess a good 
understanding on other subjects, and even among 
those who have both superior reputation and 
abilities in the management of affairs. The 
inveteracy of habits, which it requires nothing 
but the awe of principle to correct, is the only 
defence of their profanity which they will ven- 
ture to plead : and even this they will mention 
with confidence, though they are conscious that 
they are deliberately indulging their profanity, 
in direct violation of every principle both of 
duty and religion. 

Shall men like these — " blasphemers" of re- 
ligion, even at the moment when they most 
avow themselves the enemies of infidelity- 
shall they become the guardians or the cham- 
pions of godliness ? Every form attributed to re* 



122 THE FORM OF GODLINESS. SER. 4* 

ligion is blasted on the lips of profanity ; and 
every thing which is peculiar to the substance 
or the te power of godliness," the language of 
profanity resolutely and publicly " denies." He 
who lives from day to day, blaspheming the 
God of heaven, cannot be conceived to believe, 
that godliness has a substance or " a power," in 
which either his duties or his personal happiness 
are involved. 

It is a most impressive duty among religious 
men, to unite steadily to promote and to pre- 
serve the reverence of God among the people, 
and " the power of godliness." But it is their 
duty also, to receive, with reverence and awe, 
the striking admonitions given them by " blas- 
phemers," who contend for " the forms of god- 
liness." They verify the characters of " the 
last days," of which " the spirit speaketh ex- 
pressly." They warn us of " the perils," of 
w T hich they are declared to be the signal. They 
shew us how earnestly we are bound ft to con- 
tend" for the substance and for the practical in- 
fluence of " the faith once delivered to the 
saints ;" and they certainly afford us the strong- 
est and most urgent reasons to fast and pray to- 
gether. 



SER. 4. THE FORM OF GODLINESS. 123 

(3.) The apostle says of " the perilous times," 
that men shall then " be lovers of pleasure more 
than lovers of God." 

Those who are accustomed to observe and to 
estimate living manners, cannot but perceive, 
how high the encreasing luxury and wealth of 
our country have raised " the love of pleasure;" 
how it has grown and spread from the first to 
the last orders of the people ; how almost every 
interest and pursuit gives way to it among the 
higher ranks; and how much even the middle 
orders of men sacrifice to it, of their health, of 
their precious time, of their money, of their la- 
bour, of their private comfort, of their domestic 
habits, of their serious hours, and of their best 
duties. 

One class of men pursue it as their chief bu- 
siness ; and another class, who profess to culti- 
vate more sobriety of mind, find themselves un- 
able either to restrain or to resist the torrent of 
fashionable manners, notwithstanding the pres- 
sure both of war and of famine*, and the cries 
of poverty around them. They admit, that we 

* The scarcity and the exorbitant price of provisions were 
at this time most severely felt. 



124 THE FORM OF GODLINESS. SER. 4. 



are receiving the most striking admonitions of 
Providence; they do not profess to disregard 
them ; and yet at this moment the succession of 
their festivities is scarcely kept from encroaching 
on the solemnities of religion. The love of 
pleasure is the predominating passion of the pre- 
sent times ; which gathers fuel and strength from 
all our prosperity, and which receives scarcely 
any check from our heaviest and most humbling 
calamities. 

Can it be seriously denied, that the men of the 
present time " are lovers of pleasures more than 
lovers of God?" What species or form of plea- 
sures do they deliberately and permanently sa- 
crifice to their sense of God ; to the warnings 
he has given them; to the present aspect of 
Providence around them ; or to the general con- 
siderations of duty or religion? They assume 
" the form of godliness," and are forward in ex- 
pressing their zeal for maintaining it. But, in 
their personal conduct, do they relinquish either 
their pleasures or their business, that \i they 
may sanctify the Lord's Day or keep it holy;" 
or do they give their time, or give their perso- 



SER. 4. THE FORM OF GODLTNESS. 



125 



nal countenance, even to " the form of godli- 
ness," for which they profess to contend ? 

There is a great variety of characters amongst 
us. But I say it confidently, that there is in 
the present time a more marked disrespect to 
the ordinances of religion, more of the pursuit 
of pleasure in defiance of the authority of reli- 
gion, and more open profanations of the Lord's 
Day, (which becomes more and more a day 
both of pleasure and of business) than has ever 
before been observed in this place. 

It is obvious that I do not speak of those 
who have in any degree imbibed the spirit of 
religion. But I refer to multitudes of men who 
have of late been most clamorous against the 
effects of infidelity, and who, from political mo- 
tives, have expressed much solicitude to pre- 
serve our religious institutions. 

If they have ever been in earnest in the at- 
tachment they have professed to the ordinances 
of Christ, they have at least proved themselves 
" to be lovers of pleasures more than lovers of 
God." They have at least proved, that in 
whatever light they regard " the form," they 
explicitly " deny the power of godliness;" since 



W6 



THE FORM OF GODLINESS. SEIl. 4. 



they do not permit the awe of God either to set 
bounds to their pleasures, or to determine their 
conduct. 

What can come more directly home to the 
apostle's description of the perilous times ? Men 
give themselves to pleasures and not to God. 
Though they contend for " the forms" of ex- 
ternal religion as a political system, " they 
deny" or disavow " the power of godliness," 
in as far as it is hostile to their manners, and 
forbids the pleasures which they will not aban- 
don. 

(4.) The apostle says of " the perilous times," 
that men shall then " be despisers of those that 
are good." 

This part of the description goes deep into 
the characters which he meant to represent. 

Men are often in earnest in the zeal which 
they express for the authority of religion, who 
have not been able to realise in their practice 
even their own ideas of their personal duties. 
But when this is the case, conscious of their 
sincerity, they at least regard with respect and 
love those whom they believe to be purer than 
themselves, or consider as better maintaining 



SER. 4. THE FORM OF GODLINESS. 



127 



their fidelity to their common master. They 
contemplate with sensible interest and satisfac- 
tion their fervor, their holy conversation, and 
every good work which they accomplish* 

This is universally the temper of good men 
towards one another, notwithstanding the diver- 
sity in their personal characters, and all the va- 
riety of their talents. 

But, on the other hand, it is as universally 
true, that the spirit of the world is in perpetual 
enmity with the spirit of Christ. Men who 
have no more than " the form of godliness," 
and harden themselves against " the power of 
it," look with perpetual jealousy or disgust on 
those who are more in earnest than themselves 
" in obeying the gospel." 

This character of " the perilous times" is per- 
fectly consonant with the general view which 
Christianity has given us of the spirit of the 
world. " The world hath hated them," said 
our Lord of his disciples, " because they are 
not of the world, even as I am not of the 
world*." Cain hated Abel, and slew him, 



* John xyii. 14, 



128 THE FORM 01- GODLINESS, 



SER. 4. 



(£ because his own works were evil, and his bro- 
ther's righteous * " yea, and all that will live 
godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution f." 

He who " denies the power of godliness," 
will never look with respect on those who abide 
by it. That light, superficial, and formal reli- 
gion, which does not reach the heart, and which 
has no real influence on men's conduct, or on 
their motives, is all the religion which he either 
professes or acknowledges. But his own mind 
will often involuntarily tell him, that better men 
know Christianity better, because they f]nd in it 
the power which he denies ; and because while 
he receives from it no sensible satisfactions, they 
" rejoice in it with joy unspeakable and full of 
glory." This reproach he will not forget ; and 
for this reproach, he becomes a perpetuaf " des- 
piser of them who are good." 

It is a melancholy character of " perilous 
times," that men who contend merely for " the 
forms" of religion, and who have nothing more, 
teach themselves, and encourage one another, to 
despise those who have imbibed the spirit of it* 



*'l John iii. 12, 



f 2 Tim. iii. 12. 



SER. 4. THE FORM OF GODLINESS. 



129 



There is not a degree of inveteracy betvyixi man 
and map, which goes beyond the contempt or 
hatred of those who have no more of religion 
than its form, for every species or appearance 
of serious, personal, or vital godliness. What 
they cannot despise as hypocrisy, they persecute 
as narrow or illiberal ; and the conduct which 
they cannot condemn as corrupt, they affect tq 
despise for what they affirm to be its useless 
strictness or severity. They receive every sur- 
mise with avidity, to the prejudice of men who 
profess to feel " the power of godliness.' 1 They 
embrace every calumny against them with eager- 
ness ; and they set down every circumstance of 
aggravation with a malignant satisfaction. 

Is this kind of malignity suspended, when 
men have begun to express an unusual zeal for 
external religion? The spirit of the world is 
ever at the same variance with the spirit of 
Christ ; and those who " have the form of 
godliness, but deny the power thereof," the 
more they express their zeal for something 
which is not godliness, are just so much the 
more determined (< despisers of them who are 
good." 

t 



130 THE FORM OF GODLINESS. SER. 4* 

The characters given us of " the perilous 
times," ought to render the subject I have en- 
deavoured to illustrate, most interesting to us ; 
and the present aspect of Providence should lead 
us to review it with the most solemn atten- 
tion. 

I have considered, 1. How far the present 
times are distinguished by an attachment to " the 
forms of godliness;" and then, 2. How far it 
appears, from the characters specified, that the 
same men " deny the power of godliness," who 
are zealous in contending for " the form of 
it." 

I have illustrated but a few of the characters 
mentioned by the apostle, though there are o- 
thers in his enumeration which are equally strik- 
ing. In one discourse I could attempt no more; 
but the specimens I have given are sufficient to 
enable us to examine every part of the descrip- 
tion. 

Permit me now to direct your thoughts, 
III. To the application of the doctrine. 
The apostle first affirms, that " in the peri- 
lous times, men shall be lovers of their own- 
selves, and covetous — blasphemers — lovers of 



SER. 4. THE FORM OF GODLINESS. 131 

^pleasures more than lovers of God — despisers 
of them who are good." He then subjoins his 
exhortation to the believers, concerning the con- 
duct which they ought to observe with regard 
to such characters : " From such turn away." 

We are often in danger of being deceived by 
words or appearances, when we have not exa- 
mined the substance of that to which they re- 
late. An ardent or a conspicuous zeal for " the 
form of godliness," may be easily mistaken for 
a persuasion of its " power." But we are re- 
quired to try the professions of religion, by their 
effects on men's lives, and on their visible man- 
ners. We "do not gather grapes of thorns, 
or figs of thistles ;" and " a corrupt tree cannot 
bring forth good fruit." Men may certainly 
" profess to know God," and to reverence his 
institutions, though their general temper and 
manners demonstrate that they deny Him, and 
despise them. 

I have stated fairly the characters to which 
the text refers, so as to enable you to judge of 
them ; and to whomsoever such characters ap- 
ply, the apostle admonishes and commands us, 
" from such to turn away," He says, with a_. 

i 2 



132 THE FORM OF GODLINESS. SER. 4. 

similar minuteness, to the Philippians, " many 
walk, of whom I have told you often, and now 
tell you, even weeping, that they are the ene- 
mies of the cross of Christ; whose end is de- 
struction, whose God is their belly, whose glory 
is in their shame, who mind earthly things 

Guard yourselves, my brethren, against the 
influence and the manners of men of corrupt 
minds. Some intercourse we must have with 
active men of the most different characters, " or 
else (as the Scripture says) we must go out of the 
world f." But in the general intercourse, which 
cannot be avoided, it is a most impressive duty 
" to watch and pray, that we enter not into temp- 
tation," and that we may be able to keep our 
hearts and our manners equally uncorrupted by 
the influence and by the example of unprin- 
cipled men. We have all the natural and ex- 
ternal symptoms of difficult and "perilous times" 
around us; the miseries of scarcity, and the ca- 
lamities of war, added to the most alarming se- 
ries of political convulsions in the neighbour- 
ing states. The internal symptoms which I have 



* Philip, iii. 18. ip. 



+ 1 Cor. v. 10. 



SER. 4. THE FORM OF GODLINESS, 133 

represented, are not less visible, arising from the 
perversion of our manners and opinions. 

And what should be necessary, besides these 
circumstances, to rouse us to prayer and to fast- 
ing? It is certain that we are not without our 
share in the national degeneracy; and the ad- 
monition of this day ought to come home to our 
hearts. " Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, consider 
your ways V " Humble yourselves in the sight 
of the Lord, and he shall lift you upf." ?! Re- 
pent, and be converted, that your sins may be 
blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall 
come forth from the presence of the Lord ;£." 
" The form of godliness" will always be pre- 
cious to faithful men; but its spirit and power 
alone are " life and peace." Wherefore, my 
brethren, " suffer the word of exhortation." Re- 
ligion is of the last importance to the present 
and eternal interests of mankind ; and the " forms 
of godliness" are essential to the means of pro- 
moting and preserving its influence in the world. 
Let nothing be wanting on your part, to guard 
the institutions of religion from irreverence and 



* Hag. i. 5. f James iv. 10. 



X Acts iii. 19* 



134 THE FORM OF GODLINESS. SER. 4t 

neglect; and at least endeavour to distinguish 
yourselves by your personal adherence to them, 
in opposition^ to alP the perversion of others. 
But watch the temper of your minds, and do 
not suffer your zeal to be polluted by the spirit 
of the world. Let your attention be chiefly fix- 
ed on the substance of Christianity, that per- 
sonal religion may be the chief object of your 
zeal, and may animate all your solicitude for 
" the forms of godliness." 

Finally, brethren, " let your conversation be 
without covetousness, and be content with such 
things as ye have " Stand in awe, and sin 
not f" " Keep yourselves in the love of God J," 
amidst all the corruption of the world ; heartily 
united with H the faithful in Christ Jesus" in 
every good work, and " striving together for the 
faith of the gospel 



* Heb. xiii. 5. 
| Jude v. 21. 



| Psalms iv. 4. 
§ Philip, i. 27. 



SERMON V. 

ON 

CHRISTIAN FAITH AND MORALITY. 



PHILIPPIANS i. 27. 

— " That ye stand fast in one spirit, zvith one mind, 
striving together for the faith of the gospel." 

he faith of the gospel" is published to man- 
kind as the last and most perfect revelation of 
the will of God. It contains the only certain 
assurance of the mercy of God to sinners ; and 
to those who receive it, it is the only authorita- 
tive doctrine of human obligations. 

Genuine religion, among those to whom the 
gospel is sent, is nothing but " the faith of the 
gospel" in practice, applied to every situation of 
the human mind, A man is a Christian only 



136 



CHRISTIAN FAITH SER. 5. 



in as far as his faith in the doctrines of Christ 
possesses an uniform influence on his affections 
and on his conduct. The apostle could scarce- 
ly have represented practical Christianity in more 
Comprehensive terms, than when he supposes 
the believers " to stand fast in one spirit, with 
one mind, striving together for the faith of the 
gospel." 

He had no intention, by introducing the terms 
" striving together," to make any allusion to the 
contentions, of which religion has so frequently 
been made the pretence or the occasion. This 
language is simply designed to express the ear- 
nestness, and the union of good men hi adhering 
to " the faith of the gospel," in opposition to 
the malignity, the corruption, and the infidelity 
of the world. 

There are two different lights in which the 
subject suggested by this text may be consider- 
ed. 

We may suppose the apostle to have had in 
his eye the substance and the practical influ- 
ence, of " the faith of the gospel." And in 
both these views, inseparably connected, I shall 



SER. 5. 



AND MORALITY. 



137 



endeavour to illustrate the stedfastness of true 
believers. 

I suppose the representation of the text to re- 
late, 

h To the substance of " the faith of the gos- 
pel." 

It will be easily perceived, that in mention- 
ing the substance of the gospel, I do not merely 
refer to the principles on which all religion de- 
pends; the existence and providence of God, 
or the moral obligations of men. These are ori- 
ginal principles, which must be inseparable from 
every idea of religion. But though they are in- 
volved in the substance* of Christianity, they do 
not form its discriminating or peculiar features. 
In referring to them at present, I consider them 
as inseparable from the doctrines, by which the 
gospel is distinguished from every other revela- 
tion, and from every other form of religion. 

The doctrines which relate to the restoration 
of the human race, and which the gospel employs 
" to guide our feet into the way of peace,'" were, 
in the wisdom of God, unfolded by many gra- 
dations, from the earliest to the latest revelation : 
the light gradually opening and expanding from 



138 



CHRISTIAN FAITH 



SEIt. 5. 



one age to another, as the time approached when 
the full revelation was to be given. The last re- 
velation from heaven neither did nor could be- 
come complete, till the events on which it de- 
pended were accomplished. Christianity is built 
on the incarnation, the obedience, the death, 
and the resurrection of the Son of God, for 
the redemption of the world. Before the pe- 
riod of these events, the faith of good men, 
in the peculiar dispensation of their own times, 
answered the immediate purposes of practical 
religion ; whilst it uniformly referred to a purer 
and better system, to be afterwards unfolded. 
The ancient believers joined to the knowledge 
which they possessed, their reliance on the 
full revelation to come ; and though they had 
not received the accomplishment of the original 
promises of redemption, they lived " and died* 
in the faith" of them ; deriving from them their 
purest motives, and resting on them their best 
expectations. 

If this was the state of the ancient churcli, 
the believers of the gospel cannot surely be un- 
der less obligation, now that the revelation is 

* Hcb, xi. 13— 1^. 



SElt, 



AND MORALITY. 



complete, and its promulgation general, to abide 
steadily by their peculiar faith, or " to strive 
earnestly together" to preserve its substance en- 
tire. Practical Christianity is not to be separa- 
ted from the great articles of the Christian doc- 
trine, or from their continued influence and au- 
thority in the minds of those who sincerely be- 
lieve them. 

According to the gospel, we rest our hopes of 
the mercy of God to sinners, and of our per- 
sonal salvation from sin and death, on the me- 
diation of the Son of God betwixt God and 
man ; on the merit of his " obedience unto 
death" for our redemption*; on the power of 
his resurrection from the grave')'; on the effi- 
cacy of his intercession in heaven through the 
blood of the atonement J; on the supreme do- 
minion with which he is invested, for the securi- 
ty and the eternal salvation of those "who come 
unto God by him j| ; on the promise of the 
Father" by him, " to give the Holy Spirit to 

* 1 Tim. ii. 5. 6, Rom. iii. 23—25. Ch. v. 21. 
f Philip, iii. 10. Rom. vi. 9—11. 1 Thess. iv. 14* 
J Heb. vii. 25. Heb. ix. 12—24. 
il Philip, ii. 9 — 11. Rev. i. 17. 18, 



140 



CHRISTIAN FAITH SER. 5* 



them who ask him*;" on the certainty of the 
general resurrection of the dead, when " he 
shall appear the second time, without sin un- 
to salvation f ;" and on the sovereign authority 
which is given him, " to judge the quick and 
the dead" at the last day, " according to their 
works 

He who is a Christian indeed, while he re- 
lies steadily on the original principles on which 
all religion depends, receives these essential ar- 
ticles of the doctrine of Christ as the substance 
of his peculiar faith. He abides by the hope 
which is founded on them " as the anchor of 
his soul." He rests on his persuasion of their 
certainty, his most important interests in this 
world, and in the world to come. The consi- 
derations which he derives from them have an 
influence in regulating and purifying the state 
of his mind, as well as in determining his per- 
sonal conduct, superior to the effect of all other 
considerations whatsoever. And he is conscious, 
that, independent of them, he would be destitute 
both of principles and of consolations. 

* Luke xi. 13. Luke xxiv. 49, 
f St John v. 28. 29- Heb. ix. 28, 
| Matthew xxv. 31 — 46* 



BE!*; 5. AND MORALITY. 141 



On the other hand, it is not possible to con* 
ceive, that a man can be in earnest in the faith 
of Christianity, who has no settled persuasion of 
the truth or importance of its distinguishing te- 
nets, or who deliberately allows himself to re- 
gard them with neglect or with indifference. If 
the peculiar information which the gospel has 
given us concerning the doctrine of salvation by 
Christ, were either uninteresting in itself, or 
might, in any case, be neglected with safety, 
Christianity could not be true, and our faith 
would indeed be vain. 

We may certainly have different views of the 
same doctrines, without departing from the sub- 
stance of our faith. We have not all the same 
strength of understanding, nor the same clear 
perception of the doctrines laid down to us : and 
unintentional errors or mistakes will not destroy 
our union with sound believers. But a Chris- 
tianity, which professes to take no serious in- 
terest in the doctrines of Christ and his apos- 
tles, concerning the apostacy and the redemp- 
tion of the world, must to every man, who is 
himself in earnest, appear to be far removed from 
" the faith of the gospel." 



142 



CHRISTIAN FAITH 



SER. 5. 



There are many ways in which unbelievers 
disguise their aversion to the Christian doctrine, 
when they are unwilling to avow it, and in. 
which the false pretenders to Christianity con- 
ceal their indifference. But there is no expe- 
dient which they more frequently adopt, or in 
which they are more generally united, than that 
by which they endeavour to set the morality of 
the gospel in opposition to its doctrines : When 
they represent the distinguishing doctrines of 
Christianity, either as matters of no intrinsic im- 
portance, or as subjects " of doubtful disputa- 
tion;" while they affect to extol its morality, 
as containing within itself every thing which is 
valuable in religion, or which ought to be hi* 
teresting to mankind. 

The morality of the gospel is indeed of the 
last importance ; and is pure as the source from 
which it comes. It embraces the full extent of 
human obligations. It is the clear and indis- 
pensible rule by which the believers of Christi- 
anity are required to prove the sincerity and the 
steclfastness of their faith; the decisive rule by 
which their characters are to be estimated in this 
world, and by which their fidelity shall at last 



SER. .*>. 



AND MORALITY. 



143 



be tried at the tribunal of God. I shall be able 
to shew, under the second branch of the sub- 
ject, how essential to Christianity its morality is, 
and of how much importance it must always be, 
that the believers should be united in maintain* 
ing its authority. 

But, in the mean time, let us not be pervert- 
ed by words or sounds, so as to believe it pos- 
sible, that the morality of the gospel can, in any 
instance, be substituted in place of its doctrines, 
or on any pretence set in opposition to them. 
On this subject, I beseech you to consider, 
(1.) That Christianity has given no new or 
peculiar delineation of moral duties, different 
from that which was given under the ancient 
dispensation ; and that it has added nothing to 
the system of morality, excepting the peculiar 
principles or authority by which it has enforced 

The love of God, and the love of our neigh- 
bour, were the summary of moral duties under 
the law of Moses, as well as by the law of 
Christ ; and the particular duties belonging to 
each of these departments, were as clearly repre- 
sentee} by the one as by the other. The sub- 



144 



CHRISTIAN FAITH 



SER. $; 



stance of the same morality was even taught to 
the Heathens as well as to the Jews ; though 
not only without the advantage of a pure reli- 
gion to illustrate or enforce it, but intermixed 
with incalculable sources of perversion, result- 
ing from the false and pernicious maxims which 
the wisest Heathens adopted, as well as from the 
influence of barbarous superstitions and idola- 
tries. 

The gospel is certainly far superior to every 
other doctrine or system of moral instructions 
But it claims its pre-eminence, not because it lays 
down moral duties, which were not taught or 
known before its promulgation, but on account 
of the peculiar motives or sanctions by which it 
enforces its morality. Far it is impossible not to 
admit, that Christian mprals are brought home 
to the consciences of mankind, by considerations, 
of which it was nqt possible that either Jews or 
Heathens could avail themselves. 

On the other hand, it must be obvious, that 
as soon as we take this view of the subject, we 
admit the importance of the distinguishing doc- 
trines of the gospel ; for in them, and in them 
alone, are to be found the peculiar principles 



AND MORALITY. 



145 



by which Christianity professes to enforce the ob- 
ligation of moral duties. It represents to us, no 
doubt, every consideration arising from our pre- 
sent condition which can have any influence in 
persuading us. But its chief and most impressive 
arguments for a holy life are such as the follow- 
ing: That " the grace of God, which bringeth sal- 
vation, hath appeared to all men, teaching us, that 
denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should 
live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this pre- 
sent world ; looking for that blessed hope and 
the glorious appearing of the great God, and our 
Saviour Jesus Christ ; who gave himself for us, 
that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and 
purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous 
of good works * .:" That " if God so loved us, we 
ought also to love one another f :" " That Christ 
died for all, that they who live should not hence- 
forth live to themselves, but unto him who died 
for them and rose again J :" That " to every one 
of us is given grace according to the measure of 
the gift of Christ and that 5? the small and 

* Titus ii. 11— 14. f lJohniv.il. 

i 2 Cor. v. 15, § Ephes. iv. 7% 

K 



146 CHRISTIAN FAITH SER. 5, 

the great" shall stand at last before the judgment- 
seat of Christ, to receive sentence, " every man 
according as his works have been." 

It is impossible to think of morality, as the 
morality of the gospel, without referring it di- 
rectly to these, or to similar considerations, by 
which it is the peculiar office and object of the 
New Testament to enforce it. Referred to these 
principles, the morality of Christianity is incoi> 
porated with its essential doctrines ; and it can- 
not be separated from them, without ceasing to 
be Christian morality. 

" The faith of the gospel" not only sug- 
gests to us sound or useful motives to holir 
ness of life, but it is, in every instance, the best 
security both of our ardour and fidelity in our 
personal duties. The apostle Paul, after enu- 
merating to Titus* the leading doctrines of 
grace and sanctification represented in the gos- 
pel, subjoins to his enumeration these remark- 
able words : " This is a faithful saying (or, this 
is faithful and sound doctrine), and these things 
(or, these doctrines) I will that thou affirm con- 



* Titus iii. 3—8.. 



SER# 5. 4ND MORALITY. 147 

stantly, to the end that* they who have believed 
in God may be careful to maintain good works : 
These things are good and profitable unto men." 
He supposes, not only that the most effectual 
mode of teaching Christian morality consists in 
the faithful application of the doctrines of re- 
demption, to inculcate or to enforce moral du- 
ties ; but that the peculiar doctrines of Christ 
are to be constantly taught or affirmed, with the 
express purpose and design of persuading the 
believers to be stedfast in "maintaining good 
Wprks. ?> He who departs from the doctrines 
of the gospel, under the pretence of extolling its 
morality, relinquishes the substance of Christian 
morals, as effectually as he abandons the founda- 
tions of a Christian's hope, 

I beseech you to consider, 

(2.) What the morality is, which is industri- 
ously separated from the doctrines of Christiani- 
ty, or is inculcated independent of its relation 
to them. 

When J say that morality is separated from 
Christianity, I do not mean to affirm, that this 

K 2 



148 



CHRISTIAN FAITH 



SER. 5. 



is always directly done. It happens more fre- 
quently, that the doctrines of the gospel are pas- 
sed over in silence, or are treated as subjects 
which a very wise or enlightened man does not 
think it necessary minutely to consider; while 
moral duties are stated, with few exceptions, as 
if they had no reference to them. 

Is the morality which is thus inculcated, the 
pure, the universal, the watchful, or the uniform 
morality represented in the gospel ? On the con- 
trary, it is a morality which has seldom any re- 
lation to God, or to the duties which we owe to 
him ; a morality which applies chiefly, or en- 
tirely, to our present interests; the morality 
which the fashion, or the general manners of 
the world, require ; the morality, which derives 
its chief motives from present situations, and 
from present events ; the morality of easy, pli- 
ant, and conciliating manners, which neither 
bears hard on the vices, nor goes deep into the 
consciences of mankind ; the morality by which 
men learn to declaim against religious zeal, and 
against every thing which has the aspect either 
of scrupulous holiness, or of earnest religion, 
Jbut which can teach them to look, without any 



SER. 5. 



AND MORALITY. 



149 



dissatisfaction or murmur, on the dissipations of 
the world, on the profane, and on the sensual, 
and on the oppressors, and on the hardened. 

Men of sound understanding ought to be able 
to determine for themselves, whether this is the 
morality of the gospel which is inculcated with 
scarcely any relation to it, and from every mo- 
tive rather than the motives of religion; in 
which the lessons of moral duty, separated from 
the language of Christianity, are every day 
brought nearer to the maxims and to the man- 
ners of the world ; and from which men learn, 
or are taught to believe, that wretched as their 
progress is in moral duties, they must derive 
from it their only hope of salvation. 

The unbeliever, and the false professor of Chris- 
tianity, insensibly adopt the same language. Un- 
der the pretence of setting morality and Christia- 
nity at variance, they unite their endeavours to 
sap the foundations of both. They first banish 
from their thoughts the substance, or the pecu- 
liar tenets of the gospel, as a metaphysical sys- 
tem which may well be spared. When they 
have effected this, their work is almost done: 
for the morality which they profess to retain, is 



150 



CHRISTIAN FAITH 



SEH. 5. 



easily reconciled to the vices of the world; and, 
though it were pure, soon becomes a dead let- 
ter, separated from the principles or motives 
which can alone support it. 

It is impossible not td remark, besides, that 
trie supple and accommodating morality, which 
bends to every fashion, and accords with every 
new opinion ; which startles at every approach 
of £eal for religion, but which fears nothing from 
the lips of ungodliness or of infidelity; is in its 
most favourable aspect, at least far removed from 
the holiness of heart and life, by which the 
sound believers of the gospel are represented in 
the New Testament, as becoming " the temple 
of God," arid as " having the spirit of God 
dwelling in them # ." — I beseech you to consider^ 

(3.) The essential importance of the distin- 
guishing doctrines of the gospel to the present 
$nd eternal interests of mankind. 

11 God so loved the world, that he gave his 
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on 
him might not perish, but might have everlast- 
ing life f f On this fact, on which Christianity 



* i Cor, in. l6. 



f St John iii. \6. 



SER. 5. 



AND MORALITY, 



151 



is built, depends all our consolation as fallen 
creatures, when we plead for mercy at the foot- 
stool of God, or look forward with hope into 
the world to come. We rely on it when we 
pray for the remission of sins, for the help or 
for the grace which our situations require, or for 
the consolations which support us during our 
pilgrimage in this world. It lies at the foun- 
dation of our faith and confidence, when we 
look forward to our final victory over death and 
sin ; to the certainty of the resurrection of the 
dead ; or to " the glorious manifestation of the 
sons of God." It relates to our most permanent 
and most precious interests ) and the advantages, 
as well as the comfort, with which we are able 
to contemplate them, depends on the persuasion 
with which we rely on it, and on the doctrines 
founded on it ; doctrines which contain the sub- 
stance of the peculiar system of the gospel ; which 
the gospel alone brings home to our conviction ; 
" That God (to wit) is in Christ reconciling the 
world unto himself, not imputing their trespas- 
ses unto them and, " that believing on Christ, 
we have life through his name |." 

* 2 Cor. v. 19, t St John xx. 31. 



152 



CHRISTIAN FAITH 



SER. 5. 



Shall it be possible to persuade us to regard 
with neglect, or to think with prejudice, of doc- 
trines on which so much must certainly depend, 
if Christianity is true? Shall we fall into the 
snare of malignant infidelity, without perceiving 
that it strikes at the root both of our present and 
of our eternal interests? Shall we permit our- 
selves to be seduced into the cold and languid 
indifference, with regard to the substance of 
Christianity, expressed by men who feel not 
" the powers of the world to come," and who 
are equally unconscious of the comfort and of 
the hopes which they abandon ? 

If we are Christians indeed, we will receive 
the doctrines of Christ as they are, and abide by 
them steadily, as the foundations of our perso- 
nal hopes and consolations, We will " strive 
together" earnestly to maintain the substance of 
our faith entire, against all the prejudice and the 
malignity of the world ; and neither the scorn 
of unbelievers, nor the example of false brethren, 
will have any effect to shake oar conviction, or 
to lessen our zeal. 

But the utmost attachment which we can ex- 
press for the doctrines of Christ, forms but one 



SER. 5. 



AND MORALITY. 



153 



branch of the duty of his faithful disciples. Prac- 
tical religion is of more importance than the 
soundest opinions ; and the effects of Christian- 
ity on the personal conduct of those who pro- 
fess to receive it, furnish the only decisive test 
by which either their characters or their faith 
can be tried. And therefore I am now to con- 
sider the representation of this text, as relating, 

II. To the practical influence of " the faith of 
the gospel," 

It is plain that this idea was in the apostle's 
mind, as well as the substance of the Christian 
doctrine. For the text makes a part of an ex- 
hortation to the believers, to maintain that pu- 
rity in their personal conduct, " which becometh 
the gospel," and ought to distinguish those who 
embrace it. " Only let your conversation be 
as becometh the gospel of Christ, that whether 
I come and see you, or else be absent, I may 
hear of your affairs, that ye all stand fast in one 
spirit, with one mind, striving together for the 
faith of the gospel." 

Although it is certain that morality, separat- 
ed from the doctrines of Christ, is not and can- 
not be genuine Christianity; but that, on the 



154 CHRISTIAN FAITH SEE. 5. 



contrary, when the separation is intentional, it 
is truly employed to defeat the design of our 
most holy faith — it is not less certain, on the 
other hand, that the moral or practical influence 
of the Christian doctrines, and the authority of 
the Christian law, are of the last importance to 
the character of the believers, and inust ever be- 
long to the essence of vital religion. 

The morality of Christianity is not only in 
perfect agreement with its doctrines, and in every 
point worthy of them ; but both by its substance 
and by its authority is far superior to every 
other system of morals which has ever been pub- 
lished to mankind. 

It will be readily admitted, that it embraces 
the whole extent of the moral duties, which we 
owe to God, or to ourselves, or to our fellow 
creatures; that its authority extends to the 
thoughts and intents of the heart, as well as to 
our external conduct ; and that it is given us, 
not only as containing useful and important rules 
for the advantage of human life> but as a law 
which is in every point of indispensible obliga- 
tion, and of which every breach subjects the of- 
fender to " the wrath of God." 



3ER. 5. AND MORALITY. $55 

The morality which the world professes tore- 
quire, not only allows men to violate many po- 
sitive duties, or to neglect them deliberately, and 
especially the duties which they owe to God; 
but it permits them to live in the indulgence of 
a multitude of vices, if not without reproach, at 
least without incurring any forfeiture of their 
personal character. The vices which do not con- 
tradict the prudential maxims of worldly men, 
or which do not encroach on their public man- 
ners, how contrary soever to the law of God, are 
easily reconciled to their ideas of morality, or at 
least are easily sheltered from the severity of 
their censures. 

On the other hand, it is impossible not to per- 
ceive, that the law of Christ professes to incor- 
porate itself in every point with the essential cha- 
racter of those whom he acknowledges as his 
disciples. Pure, like its Author, and, like Him, 
invariably the same, it admits of no deliberate or 
continued violations of positive duties, and of 
no habitual indulgence of known sins. On the 
contrary, it pronounces decisively with regard to 
those on whom such offences are chargeable, 



156 



CHRISTIAN FAITH 



SER. 5. 



that whatever they profess, they have forfeited 
their pretensions to vital Christianity. 

The best of men are no doubt liable to fall 
both into errors and into sins, through the 
strength of external temptations, operating on 
the depravity of human nature, and the weak- 
ness of the human heart. When they do fall 
into them, they invariably lose their peace of 
mind, till they are again " renewed to repen- 
tance :" and the repentance which is required of 
them, is not a repentance, like " the sorrow of 
the world,'* the mere result of the present ef- 
fects of their transgressions ; but a repentance 
founded on a settled abhorrence of the sins which 
are the subjects of it, and an effectual and deter- 
mined resolution against them. But nothing can 
be more certain, than that known and habitual 
sins, deliberately persisted in, Christianity de- 
clares, in every case, to be utterly irreconcileable 
with the character of true believers. It pro- 
nounces every man who lives in the deliberate 
violation of his known duties to God or to his 
fellow creatures, or in the habitual commission 
of known sins, as in every instance, without re- 
striction, " an enemy to the cross of Christ'* 



SER. 5. 



AND MORALITY. 



157 



The language which it employs on this subject 
is so pointed and definite, as to place every ha- 
bitual violation of moral duties in complete hos- 
tility with the law of Christ. " Whosoever shall 
keep the whole law (says St James), and yet of- 
fend in one point, he is guilty of all." His 
meaning is not, what it is impossible to affirm, 
that the guilt of one offence is by itself equally 
heinous with the guilt of many : But he asserts, 
that the deliberate and habitual violation of one 
positive precept of the law, is the same offence 
against the authority of the lawgiver as the guilt 
of many transgressions % The apostle John lays 
down the same doctrine in terms equally broad 
and explicit. " Whosoever is born of God, doth 
not commit sin ; for his seed remaineth in him ; 
and he cannot sin (that is, he cannot deliberately 
and habitually sin against the positive law of 
Christ), because he is born of Gad. In this the 
children of God are manifest, and the children 
of the devil : Whosoever doth not righteousness 
is not of God, neither he that loveth not his 
brother f 

* James ii. 10. 11. f I John iii. 9. 10. 



15S 



CHRISTIAN FAITH 



SER. 5. 



No language could express more clearly, or 
define more precisely, either the extent or the 
inviolable obligation of the Christian law. It 
reaches every possible case of duty ; and the fi- 
delity which it requires is equally inseparable 
from the peculiar character of those who are 
placed under it, and from all the hopes and conr 
solations which Christianity has given them. 

I have mentioned already, under the first 
branch of the subject, the general considerations 
by which the gospel professes to enforce our mo- 
ral duties ; and the sanctions which it affixes to 
its positive precepts. It urges our fidelity to the 
law of Christ, and warns us against every devia- 
tion from it, by all the considerations which arise 
from the character of the human mind, and from 
our present interests and conditions in this world. 
But the chief considerations which it employs, to 
bind our moral duties on our consciences, as the 
disciples of Christ, are incorporated with the pecu- 
liar dispensation of the gospel. We are urged and 
persuaded, by the grace and by the promises of 
Christ, by our redemption through his death, by 
the hopes which he has given us, by the exqiii- 



SER. 5. AND MORALITY. 159 

site sufferings which he endured, " when his 
soul was made an offering for sin," by the jus- 
tice and by " the terrors of the Lord," by " the 
holy conversation or godliness," which is the 
test of our relation to him " who hath redeemed 
us to God by his blood," and by the strict and 
minute account which every one of us shall at 
last be required to give of his conduct, and of 
his state of mind " at the judgment of the great 

If these considerations shall not determine any 
individual who professes Christianity, to sub- 
ject himself steadily and universally to the Chris- 
tian law, as the only rule by which he is to 
judge and estimate his personal conduct, he is 
explicitly declared to be by this circumstance 
effectually excluded from the family of Christ. 
Whatever his professions are, he has no inte- 
rest or portion in the blessings, or in the salva- 
tion which the gospel has published to the world. 
His character will not abide the test by which 
alone it can be tried ; and while he continues in 
the same state of mind, " he is far from the 
kingdom of God." " If ye love me (said our 
Lord), keep my, commandments. He that hath 



160 



CHRISTIAN FAITH 



SER. 5, 



my commandments and keepeth them, he it is 
that loveth me # ." The apostle John has added, 
" He that saith I know Christ, and keepeth not 
his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is 
not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in 
him verily is the love of God perfected f." 

If I have stated fairly the substance, or at least 
the spirit of the Christian law, is it possible to 
form an idea of a purer, a more enlightened, or 
a more forcible morality, which could have been 
promulgated to human creatures? Or can we 
imagine any thing which could have been add- 
ed to the authority which enforces it, or which 
could, in any circumstances, have rendered it 
more indispensible, than it is in the characters, 
or more binding on the consciences of true be- 
lievers? 

But I have a circumstance still to mention, 
of the utmost importance to its efficacy. Those 
who abide sincerely by the doctrines of Christ, 
are affirmed to be sanctified for the obedience of 
his law, by the power of " the Holy Ghost, 
shed on them abundantly." We know nothing 

» St John xiv. 15. and 21. f 1 John ii. 4. 5. 



S£R. 5. 



AND MORALITY. 



161 



of the manner in which the Spirit of God ope- 
rates in promoting or securing the sanctification 
of those to whom he is promised. Good men 
can only perceive his influence by its effects; 
while they are certain that the promise of Christ 
is in every instance fulfilled to those who 
believe in him. The law of Christ tells them 
clearly " how they ought to walk and to 
please God." The Spirit of Christ enables them 
to attain their end. He effectually purifies the 
sources and the motives of their conduct, by 
what the gospel calls " the washing of regene- 
ration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost," 
and by means of H the faith in which they 
stand." He gives them help for every duty, and 
strength to combat every temptation. " He re- 
news them to repentance" when they have fall- 
en into a snare: and by his continued influence 
on their minds, or on the means of usefulness 
afforded them, or on the dispositions or situa- 
tions of those who can either help or obstruct 
their fidelity, " he furnishes them thoroug 
for every good work" within their sphere of 
duty. 

% 



hly 



162 CHRISTIAN FAITH SER. 5. 

It is impossible not to be sensible of the su- 
perior advantage of that morality, which can ef- 
fectually persuade a faithful man that he posses- 
ses, by the Spirit of Christ, a strength above his 
own, which is sufficient to qualify him for eve- 
ry duty, which is equal to every difficulty, and 
which must be superior to all temptations. He 
who truly believes this in his own case, will not 
soon be shaken in his resolution " to keep him- 
self unspotted from the world/' Depending on 
himself, he is often made sensible of his weak- 
ness. Relying on the promise of Christ, M he 
takes to himself the whole armour of God;" and 
" the God of hope fills him with all peace and 
joy in believing. " All things are thus made pos- 
sible to him who believe th and he will not 
shrink from his duty when the day of trial 
comes. 

We may safely appeal to every man's under- 
standing, and to his deliberate reflections, whe- 
ther the morality which is without religion, can 
bear to be compared with the law of Christ, as 
a rule of life, as a test of human character, as the 
standard of that which it is right for men either 
to do or to shun, or as an efficient guide of our 



SEll. 5. 



AND MORALITY. 



16$ 



personal conduct. We may ask, besides, the 
most obstinate despisers of the doctrines of 
Christ, whether the faith which enforces such a 
morality, does not, in spite of the malignity of 
the world, " commend itself to every man's con- 
science in the sight of God ?" 

We ought to require nothing more to per- 
suade us of the indispensible obligation of those 
who believe Christianity, " to stand fast in one 
spirit, with one mind, striving together for" the 
practical influence of " the faith of the gospel." 

But that this part of the subject may be 
brought home to our private feelings, before I 
conclude, I beseech you to consider, 

h The indispensible obligation which lies on 
every one of us who sincerely believes the gos- 
pel, to cultivate earnestly in his own mind, 
and to maintain stedfastly in his personal con- 
duct, the practical influence of " the faith of 
the gospel." 

If we are not sanctified by means of the faith 
of Christ, " our faith is vain ; we are yet in our 
sins," If we are not anxiously solicitous " to 
adorn" the faith we have embraced, by purity 
of life, by inviolable fidelity in our private du- 

L 2 



164 



CHRISTIAN FAITH 



SLR. 5. 



ties, by " the labour of love," and by patience 
under suffering, we are destitute of that without 
which " our faith is dead and every other ob- 
ject of our solicitude as religious men, is equally 
without advantage and without consolation. 

According to the gospel, it is of equal im- 
portance to our condition in this world, and 
to the hope of eternal salvation at last, that 
it shall be the endeavour and solicitude of 
our lives, to make a constant, a visible, and a 
decided progress to the perfection to which we 
aspire, though we have not yet attained it, in god- 
liness, in fidelity, in good works, and in patience. 
What a glorious ambition is excited among faith- 
ful men, when " they strive together with one 
spirit," who shall best fulfil his personal duties* 
who shall most effectually preserve himself from 
the pollutions of the world ; who shall be most in 
earnest to glorify God in his own place, or " to 
do good and to communicate" to those around 
him ; who shall best employ the talents entrusted 
to him, or most successfully add to them ten talents 
more ; who shall learn humility, or self-denial, 
or a disinterested spirit, with the most willing 



SER. 5„ 



AND MORALITY. 



J65 



mind ; who shall be most in earnest " to watch 
and pray, that he enter not into temptation ;" 
or, who shall be most solicitous, to give an im- 
pressive example to mankind, of the " faith 
which worketh by love," and of the " faith 
which overcomes the world." 

They are happy indeed who are united in 
this spirit, " with one mind, striving together" 
for, what is certainly and substantially, the prac- 
tical influence of " the faith of the gospel." 

Consider, 

2. How much every one of us has it in his 
power to promote or to assist the practical in- 
fluence of the gospel on those among whom 
he lives. 

Let every individual man consider how much 
he can do in his own family ; among those 
who are influenced by his advice, or interested 
by his affection, or allured by his example, or 
assisted by his labours, or enlightened by his 
knowledge, or profited by his wealth ; or who 
may be warned or persuaded by his earnest 
admonitions. 

It is not easy to represent by words, how 



166 



CHRISTIAN FAITH 



SER. 5. 



much faithful and conscientious men have done, 
in this department of substantial usefulness: and 
no man can calculate for himself, how far the 
grace of God might extend his usefulness, if, 
with good sense and prudence, he were ear- 
nestly and habitually to employ the opportuni- 
ties which are given him, for the advantage or 
for the conversion of other men, or for their in- 
struction, or for their edification " in the Lord." 
If we use our best endeavours in our separate 
departments, or unite heartily with those who 
can assist us in this " work of the Lord," " we 
strive together, in one spirit, and with one 
mind," for the best interests of practical religion 
among the human race. 

I entreat you to consider also, 

3. The obligation which lies on faithful men, 
to shew to those who do not believe the gospel, 
6C their work of faith and labour of love," " with 
meekness and wisdom." 

Pure and exemplary morals are strong argu- 
ments indeed, for the " faith of the gospel." 
We shall have most success in persuading those 
who do not believe, when we bring clearly in- 
to their view the practical effects of Christianity, 



SER. 5. 



AND MORALITY, 



167 



in promoting the best interests of mankind in 
this life, as well as in the life to come. We shall 
prove to their conviction, how superior the mo- 
rality and the faith of Christianity are, to all 
the corrupt maxims of the world ; if we can 
shew them from difficult or trying cases, how 
much purer, and how much more uniform 
the life of a Christian is than the conduct of 
those, who are either destitute of principle, or 
who are not in earnest in professing Christian- 
ity. 

If good men were united, as they ought to 
be, in their endeavours to give this prominent 
and practical view of their religion, they would 
not often strive in vain for " the faith once de- 
livered to the saints." The controversy would 
no longer be maintained with regard to the mo- 
rality of the gospel, or its salutary influence on 
human life ; and the false morality of the world 
would not bear to be once mentioned, in com- 
parison with the fidelity which is supported by 
" the sanctiflcation of the Spirit of Christ," and 
" the belief of the truth" revealed by him* 



SERMON VI. 



ON 

THE RESULT OF GOOD AND OF BAD 
AFFECTIONS. 



ECCLESIASTES, ix. 6. 

il Their love and their hatred mid their envy is 
now perished; neither have they any more a- 
portion for ever in any thing that is done un- 
der the sun? 

This text gives us a view of the lot of man> 
"which ought to he as useful as it is humbling. 

It is humbling to think, that the strongest af- 
fections which have perplexed, or agitated, or 
delighted us from our birth, will, in a few years, 
cease to have an existence on the earth; and 
that all the ardour which they have kindled, 
will be as completely extinguished and forgot- 



SCR. 6. 



OF GOOD AFFECTIONS. 



169 



ten, as if they had never heen. " The wise 
and their works are in the hand of God, and no 
man knoweth either love or hatred by all that 
is before them # ." 

But when we read this text, we ought to re- 
collect, that though every thing in this world 
must be transitory, nothing can be uninteresting 
of which we shall find the effects or the result 
in the world to come. We see. " the light of 
life" beyond the shades of death. Hatred and 
envy shall have their appointed end, when 
" God will bring every work into judgment^ 
with every secret thing." But a " new heaven 
and a new earth" rise up also before us, in 
which purity and love will predominate for 
ever. 

We may certainly receive useful instruction 
from the general fact affirmed by this text, 
that with regard to the interests and affairs of 
this world, the best affections and the worst pe- 
rish in the grave : especially if we extend our 
views to their final result in the kingdom of 
God. 

* Eccles. & I. 



170 



THE RESULT OF 



SER. 6, 



Solomon intended to represent opposite cha- 
racters by contrary affections. We are at least 
entitled to make this supposition, from the dis- 
tinction which he has stated at the beginning of 
this chapter, betwixt " the righteous and the 
wicked; betwixt the clean and the unclean; 
betwixt the good man and the sinner ; betwixt 
him who sacrificeth, and him who sacrificeth 
not; betwixt him that sweareth, and him that 
feareth an oath 

I shall keep this idea in my view ; and stating 
the contrary affections separately, shall endeavour 
to represent the instruction with regard to each 
of them, which we ought to receive from the 
doctrine of Solomon, 

I. I begin with the description of good men, 
" Their love is perished." 

The different situations of human life will 
give us different views of this idea. Let us, 

1. Apply it to parental love; for this is the 
first in the order of human affections. 

If we have been the children of worthy and 
affectionate parents, who are now no more, the 



* Eccles. Si. 2. 



SER. 6. GOOD AFFECTIONS. 



171 



remembrance of their love can never cease to 
be interesting. We have pleasure in believing, 
that we have derived from them our best quali- 
ties, or that we can refer to them our success in 
life. We look back with a melancholy satisfac- 
tion on their anxieties for us when we had no 
care of ourselves ; on their solicitude to protect 
or to warn us ; on the affection with which they 
supplied our want of experience ; on the looks 
of kindness with which they gratified us; on 
the instruction and the discipline by which they 
endeavoured to form us for the path of life ; 
on the fervent prayers by which they purified 
them ; on the earnestness with which they spake 
to us of duties and of godliness, when they ad- 
monished us of the evils to come, and strove to 
fortify, or instruct us, by " the labour of love 
on the sanguine hopes which they delighted to 
indulge, from the progress of our talents, or from 
our good conduct or success in the world, or 
from our duty and affection to them, or from 
our ardour in good works, or from our fidelity 
to the God of our fathers. 

These are the most useful recollections of the 
human mind. It is the law of our nature, 



172 



THE RESULT OF 



SER. 6. 



that the parents go down to the grave, and 
leave their children behind them. But if we 
can remember our parents with those happy 
impressions of their affection and fidelity, we 
have that from them which will interest and 
admonish us as long as we live. If we have 
been faithful to the influence of parental love, it 
will never lose its hold of us. 

Why should not each of us examine himself 
fairly on the subject? 

Has my conduct been at all worthy of the 
faithful discipline of my parents ; or of their 
earnest admonitions to guide and to bless my 
youth; or of the last impressive prayer which 
came from " the love which perished" in the 
grave ? 

Do I feel the influence stiil of parental soli- 
citude, to restrain me in the hour of temptation; 
or to revive on my conscience my early impres- 
sions of godliness and of good works ? Or, am 
I conscious that there is a motive to whatever is 
pure or estimable, ever returning to my thoughts, 
from the sense of my obligation to justify the 
hopes, and to be worthy of the examples, which 
are now no more? 



SER. 6. 



GOOD AFFECTIONS. 



173 



It is consolatory indeed, to be able to answer 
these questions to the satisfaction of our own 
Blinds. If we give thanks to Heaven that those 
# whose love has perished" died in faith and pa- 
tience, and " commanded their children to keep 
the way of the Lord," we must feel that the im- 
pressions, to which these questions relate, are 
rivetted on our hearts; and that for the influ- 
ence which they preserve on our conduct, we 
shall one day answer to God. 

Ah ! what shall those men do, who know 
that they deliberately trample on the memorials 
of parents who loved them in the fear of God ? 
The love which lost its influence, before it 
could avail them, and of which they must feel 
themselves to have been unworthy, though it 
perished in the grave, shall rise up at " the 
judgment of the great clay," to bear witness a. 
gainst them, tf except they repent." The 
thought is deep and awful. If they have any 
tenderness of mind, and God hath not forsa- 
ken them, it will reach the bottom of their 
hearts. 

But it is impossible not to feel how much the 
recollection of parental love, which recals us 



174 THE RESULT OF SER. 6. 

to prayer or to penitence, ought to suggest to 
other men with regard to the love which has 
not yet perished. Their parents admonish them 
still, and pray for them. Surely this is the 
time to consider how precious the impressions 
ought to be of God and of duties, which are 
produced by their earnest and affectionate en- 
deavours to be faithful to God and to them. 
" My son, said Solomon, keep thy father's com- 
mandment, and forsake not the law of thv mo- 
ther. Bind them continually upon thine heart, 
and tie them about thy neck. When thou go- 
es t, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it 
shall keep thee ; and when thou awakest, it shall 
talk with thee*." 

On the other hand, they ought to know that 
the deliberate sacrifice of their first impressions 
to the vanities of their youth, or of their age, 
is equally unprincipled and irreparable. It is a 
perversion never to be forgotten, and which can 
seldom, indeed, be compensated. 

But it is of great importance to remind those 
who are still permitted to enjoy the advantages 



* Proverbs vi. 20. 21. 22. 



SER. 6\ 



GOOD AFFECTIONS. 



175 



of parental love, that their obligation to do their 
utmost to acknowledge and to repay them, is as 
urgent as it is indispensible. iC Honour thy 
father and thy mother, that thy days may be 
long upon the land which the Lord thy God 
giveth thee * " is the first commandment with 
promise f. Those who feel the force of this 
obligation, know how much it is in their power 
to gladden, by their affectionate attentions, the 
parents who love them, and to render their last 
days happier than their first. They are con- 
scious besides, that if there is any thing which 
ought to render a man unhappy all his life, it is 
the recollection of an undutiful, ungrateful, and 
unworthy conduct towards parents who had 
done every thing for him. 

The season of filial duty is therefore as pre- 
cious as it is honourable. But it passes so 
quickly away, that nothing can be more urgent 
in the mind of a good man, than the affectionate 
requital of parental love, which hastens to die; 
and which, before he is aware, will cease to have 



* Exodus xx. 12, 



f Ephes. vi. 2, 



176 THE RESULT OF SER. 6. 

any more " a place with any thing that is done 
under the sun." 

On this head I suggest besides, that, in con- 
templating the ends of parental love, the parents 
ought to feel their obligations as forcibly as the 
children. 

If we consider, for what it is that our chil- 
dren will look back on us with respect; for 
what they will cherish our memory with ten-; 
derness ; and what recollections of us will be-? 
come precious to them ; we shall have the 
most irresistible conviction of the means by 
which we ought to demonstrate our love to 
them now, and our fidelity in parental du- 
ties. 

On the other hand, if we ask ourselves de- 
liberately, for what circumstances in our con- 
duct our children may hereafter have reason to 
reproach us; or what defects in our example, 
in our instructions, or in our parental discipline, 
may hereafter destroy their reverence for us, we 
shall find a motive to fidelity of the most forci- 
ble kind, equally supported by the feelings of pa- 
rents, and by the faith of the gospel. 



SER. 6. 



good affections. 



177 



The time is not distant when all " our love 
shall perish." But if we are faithful to God, 
and to our children, they will bless and conse- 
crate our memory, when our heads are laid in 
the dust. Even their posterity may learn some 
good thing from them, which we have impart- 
ed ; and that happy day at last may come, 
when we shall be able to say before the throne 
of God, " Behold us, and the children whom 
thou hast given us." 

This idea naturally directs us to apply the re- 
presentation of the text, 

2. To filial love. 

The affection of children to their parents is 
a principle of our nature, not less important than 
parental love. 

The son " who honours his father and mo- 
ther," and who cherishes for them, not only the 
reverence which he owes them, but the watch- 
ful solicitude of undissenibled affection, repays 
an hundred fold their early anxieties for him. 
When he makes it the object of his life to pro- 
mote their happiness, to prevent their wishes, or 
to help their infirmities; when his talents ex- 
ceed their expectations, and his dispositions, 

u 



178 



THE RESULT OF 



SER. 6. 



ripened by his progress into life, are still more 
interesting* than his talents : they delight to con- 
template his success in the world, more than 
they have ever enjoyed their own : They regard 
the esteem which he acquires, with the honest 
and affectionate exultation of parental partiality : 
his dutiful affection to them is the resource and 
the consolation of their age: and the virtues 
which they ascribe to him, dwell on their 
thoughts, as often as they bless the God of 
their fathers. 

When filial love is purified by the spirit of god- 
liness, and the ardour of youth is controlled by 
the faith which " overcomes the world," the af- 
fection of the children goes deeper still into the 
hearts of the parents, and has a double effect to 
cheer the evening of their days. Every estimable 
quality is then added to good affections; and the 
delight which the parents feel, from the continu- 
ed expressions of filial love, is incorporated with 
every pure and joyful expectation. They look 
to their children with complacency, and with 
gratitude to God. They delight to dwell on 
their personal virtues, as blessings to themselves 
above all which they possess besides. They ex- 



§ E R. 6. 



GOOD AFFECTIONS. 



179 



pect from their dutiful affection, their last con- 
solations in this world. And in proportion to 
their firm reliance on " the hope of eternal life 
by Jesus Christ our Lord," as they go down to 
the grave, they anticipate with delight and ten- 
derness the happy time, when they shall see 
their children again, in the kingdom of " the 
everlasting Father." 

There is not a source of human enjoyments 
purer in itself, or more inestimable in the pro- 
gress of human life, than the affection which 
parents receive from their children, already ad- 
vancing in the world ; or the watchful solicitude 
of filial love, to add to their satisfactions, to re- 
lieve their anxieties, or to soften their decline. 

The children, in the order of nature, survive 
their parents, and receive their parting blessing. 
But while we possess the satisfactions which we 
derive from our children, we are too apt to flat- 
ter ourselves, that this must be the fact in our 
own experience. We enjoy their society and 
their affection, as if they were certain resources 
which we are not destined to lose. We form 
our plans through life, for their advantage, after 
we " shall be gathered to our fathers." And we 

m 2 



180 



THE RESULT OF 



SER. 6, 



allow ourselves to anticipate a long series of 
years, in which we imagine them to reflect ho- 
nour on those who gave them birth, and to con- 
secrate their memory. 

Short-sighted mortals know not what is good 
for man ; and know still less, " what a day may 
bring forth*." Our children die before our 
eyes, and all * their love perishes." We follow 
them to the grave, at the moment when we 
have had most reliance on their affection; and 
when they had given us the greatest reason to 
expect every thing from their talents or their 
virtues. 

The good pleasure of God has made this hea- 
vy affliction not uncommon to men : But it 
brings with it the most impressive lesson which 
human life affords us, of the vanity of earthly 
things. 

We toil and labour for our children ; we 
heap up wealth to be enjoyed by them: But 
when they die, all our schemes are ended ; eve- 
ry thing which we have done to render them 
rich or prosperous, is buried at once in their un- 



* Proverbs xxvii. 1. 



SER. 6. 



GOOD AFFECTIONS. 



181 



timely graves. We become solitary in the world, 
at the moment when we believed our prosperity 
at its height; and the wealth which we have 
accumulated for many years, w r e know not who 
shall scatter. 

What a lesson is this against the love of the 
world ! Against him " who vexes himself in 
vain !" Against " the vain shew," and " the 
pride of life!" What a striking lesson is it to 
those, who think of nothing for their children, 
beyond the delights or the distinctions of 
mortality ! How irresistible is our persuasion, 
when we see the children followed to their 
graves by their parents, that riches and prospe- 
rity are but secondary things, to the children of 
mortal creatures; that nothing can be ultimate- 
ly precious to them, which extends not its ef- 
fects beyond the grave ; that virtues are beyond 
all computation superior to talents ; the genu- 
ine faith of the gospel to every other source of 
ardour or activity ; the well-founded hope of 
immortality and salvation by Jesus Christ, to eve- 
ry earthly expectation ! 

The death of the children of others suggests 
a striking admonition to those, whose children 



182 



THE RESULT OF 



SELL 6. 



are preserved to them. It warns them how they 
ought to estimate the expressions of filial love, 
while they are continued with them ; how they 
ought to cherish them among their most preci- 
ous blessings ; how they ought to love their chil- 
dren, to assist their ardour, and to reward their 
duty ; how much more solicitous they ought to 
be, " to lay up for them in store a good foun- 
dation against the time to come, that they may 
lay hold on eternal life*,"" than to secure to them 
the prosperity or the wealth of the world. 

Finally, how precious is the filial love, which 
we continue to remember, rather with tender- 
ness, than with regret ! How infinitely precious, 
if we believe that our children are now with 
God ,* that they were taken from us, to be hap- 
py for ever ; that " their love" has not " perish- 
ed" for ever in the grave; that they will by 
and by be our companions again in a better 
world, when " the dead in Christ" shall rise to 
die no more ; and that their affection for us, 
seven times purified, will last as the ages of the 
sons of God, 



* 1 Tim. vi. 9* 



SER. 6. 



GOOD AFFECTIONS. 



183 



We shall find instruction from the idea ex- 
pressed in the text, by applying it, 

3. To " the love which perishes" by the 
death of the intimate associates of our youth or 
of our age. 

The pressure on the mind is severe indeed, 
when by the will of God we have lost the most 
faithful or the most affectionate of our asso- 
ciates; those of whom we had conceived the 
most delightful expectations ; or those by 
whose means we had attained the most solid 
advantages for this world or for eternity. But 
their memorial is not lost — the memory of their 
virtues and of their intellectual endowments — 
the memory of their kindness — the memory of 
their usefulness to us — or the memory of the 
satisfactions which we have enjoyed with them. 

There are imperfections which adhere to the 
best affections of the human mind. We are 
conscious of weaknesses in ourselves, and of de- 
fects in those whom we most esteem, which re- 
quire a constant and a mutual forbearance ; and 
which, to a certain extent, have a perpetual in- 
fluence, to interrupt or to lessen the satisfactions, 
both of private and of domestic life. 



384 THE RESULT OF SER. 6. 

But it is a most important fact, that in recol- 
lecting " the love which has perished," all that 
was precious in it remains on our thoughts, and 
all its imperfections are buried in the grave. It is 
that alone which we valued and cherished, which 
we remember with tenderness of those who 
are now no more. It is their good and estima- 
ble qualities alone, which consecrate their me- 
morial with us, separated from all the infirmi- 
ties which were once united to them. 

This fact is important indeed : For it renders 
the memorials of love as useful as they are 
gratifying to those who preserve them. We re- 
member that which was good : we forget every 
infirmity which was attached to it: we dwell 
with affection on every advantage and on every 
satisfaction which it yielded to us : and its li- 
ving impression is rivetted on our hearts. We 
feel as if the image of the departed virtues, 
pure as the spirits of just men made perfect, 
Avere before us ; and we are still united to them 
by " the cords of love." 

These recollections, equally solemn and impres- 
sive, have a direct tendency both to comfort us 
in our sorrow over " those who are asleep," and to 
purify our affections during the rest of our pilgri- 



SER. 6. 



GOOD AFFECTIONS. 



185 



mage. We think of those " who walked with 
God and their memorial kindles our abhor- 
rence of the pollutions of the world. While it 
awakens our ardour " to become followers of 
them who through faith and patience inherit the 
promises," we think of the spirits departed, who 
were once our companions below, as we contem- 
plate the angels of God descending to bless our 
recollections, and to watch our habitations. 

It is precious to our hearts to be persuaded, 
that " the love which perished" in the grave, 
lives still with " the God of love and peace." 
If we have " the faith which is the evidence of 
things not seen," we follow by degrees to take 
our portion with " the dead in Christ." The 
memorial which we cherish, is a pledge of our 
progress, and an anticipation of the glory " here- 
after to be revealed in us." 

Shall it not instruct us, in the mean time, 
with the most persuasive energy, how to use the 
love which remains to us ; how to be faithful 
and affectionate to the associates whom God 
preserves to us ; how to watch our personal in- 
firmities; how to shield our private affections 
from their influence ; how to bear with the in- 



486 



Hi 

THE RESULT OF 



SER. 6. 



firmities of others ; how " to keep ourselves un- 
spotted from the world." 

A little time only can elapse, before all that 
we love shall perish, and we ourselves " shall 
be gathered to our fathers." But we know that 
the love which the Spirit of Christ has sanctified 
to bless us in the house of our pilgrimage, liveth 
and abideth for ever. " Whether there be pro- 
phecies, they shall fail ; whether there be tongues, 
they shall cease ; whether there be knowledge, it 
shall vanish away — and now abideth these three 
— faith, hope, charity ; but the greatest of these 
is charity 

I have hitherto considered the idea in the text 
as applied to the affections of private life. But 
if " love and hatred" are here employed to repre- 
sent either opposite or general characters, they 
must be extended beyond the limited situations 
of domestic life. With regard to love in parti- 
cular, it may be affirmed with confidence, that till 
it goes far beyond these situations, it cannot be 
safely received as a test of human characters. 

There may be a great display of private af- 



* 1 Cor, xiii. 8. 13. 



SER. 6\ GOOD AFFECTIONS. 187 

fections, where there is neither much principle 
nor much generosity of mind. We shall find 
men who are perpetually bringing before us 
their solicitudes for their children, or for their 
personal associates, whose attention can scarcely 
be fixed, with any degree of earnestness, on the 
conditions or on the concerns of another human 
being; and in no instance, in which their private 
affections interfere. We shall find them anxious 
to display the sensibilities with which they are 
endowed, when they almost entirely confine them 
to situations, in which their personal satisfactions 
are involved. 

This is selfishness, and is not love, whatever 
garb it may assume. " If ye love them who 
love you," said our Lord, u what reward have ye ? 
Do not even the publicans the same ? and if ye 
salute your brethren only, what do ye more than 
others # ?" 

The love which can be considered as repre* 
sen ting the characters of the good and of the 
pure, is love divested of selfishness. It is an 
affection, which even with regard to private du- 
ties, represses the ostentation and the selfish 

* Matth. v. 4,6. 47. 48. 



188 



THE RESULT OF 



SER. 6. 



gratifications of the mind ; and which embraces 
besides a far more extensive sphere of duty and 
of kindness. 

I am therefore to consider the idea in this 
text as applied, 

4. To the affections which are employed to 
promote the general interests and happiness of 
human life. 

The dispositions which lead men to employ 
their talents for the advantage of their fellow- 
creatures, and to do them good offices heartily, 
without any hope of a requital, create one of the 
first distinctions, by which one man can be raised 
above another. If they are animated by the 
pure and chearful spirit of religion, they form 
the most interesting of human characters. The 
love which directs us by the sense of duty, 
where to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, 
to assist the weak, to comfort the poor, or to 
revive the sorrowful ; the love which makes use- 
fulness our, happiness, and the help of every kind 
which we can bring to others our habitual soli- 
citude ; is " love out of a pure heart," such as 
Christ requires and acknowledges. 



SER. 6. 



GOOD AFFECTIONS. 



189 



When this affection becomes the habit of the 
mind, it always finds its objects readily; and, 
without departing from its proper sphere, will al- 
ways lead to the means of glorifying God. It 
extends to those who need advice or countenance, 
as well as to those who are destitute of food and 
raiment; to those who require the aid of superior 
influence or superior talents, as well as to those 
who are pressed down by sorrow ; to the hidden 
retreats of ignorance and of misery, as well as to 
the opportunities of known and of public useful- 
ness. The evil to be redressed, and the good to 
be done in any condition, will lie upon the mind 
of a good man, as the appointed channel of his 
personal duty to God and to men. " Whatso- 
ever thine hand findeth to do," said Solomon, H do 
it with thy might ; for there is neither work, 
nor knowledge, nor device in the grave, whi- 
ther thou goest h" " Do it heartily," said an a- 
postle, " as to the Lord, and not to men f." 

The usefulness of men who live under these 
impressions, and who follow them out steadily 
and earnestly through life, goes far beyond its 



* Eccles. ix. 10 



f Col. iii. 23. 



190 THE RESULT OF SER, 6. 

natural or immediate sphere ; by means of 
those whom they comfort or assist; and even 
beyond the limits of their own lives. But every 
thing has its destined period, which depends on 
the breath of man. The most useful life is 
spent, before we are aware ; and all the kindness 
which animated its progress, perishes in the 
dust. 

The selfish man dies, and we think no more 
of him ; or we think of him with more com- 
passion than regret ; or we remember the art- 
ful guise which his selfishness could put on, 
and have nothing better to remember; or we 
think of those who fill up his place, and who 
cannot be less useful in the world than he has 
been. 

But H the love which seeketh not her own" 
perisheth not " as a fool dieth." It leaves an 
impressive and a permanent memorial. When 
it is departing, we feel as if a dark cloud had ri- 
sen around us, and " we fear as we enter into 
the cloud." We think with emotion of the 
short-lived labours of the most faithful men, and 
of the pressure of calamities on the world, when 
" they are gathered to their fathers They 



SER. 6. GOOD AFFECTIONS. 191 

* 

who had so great a share in all that was worthy 
or respectable around them — They whose hand 
was found in every thing, useful or pleasing to 
their fellow-creatures. 

It is most consolatory to know that such 
men have lived, and that they lived not in 
vain; that they lived,- not for themselves, but 
for the glory of God ; that they lived till 
their probation was complete, and that their 
"works do follow them*;" that they could 
finish but the first stage of their existence 
among mortals; but that their spirits, now with 
God, in a state of more animated existence than 
ever, could they communicate with us still, 
would say to us, in our tabernacles below, " Ye 
have fully known our manner of life, our pur- 
pose, our faith, our charity, and patience f;" 
" Be ye followers of us and of the Lord J ;" " The 
time is short ;" and " the fashion of the world 
passeth away|j." 

They have left us an impressive lesson, if it 
reaches our hearts. " We would not have you ig- 
norant," said an apostle, " concerning them who 



* Rev. xiv. 13, 
% 1 Thess. i. 6, 



| 2 Tim. iii. 10. 
J| Cor. vii. 29. 



THE RESULT OF 



SER. 6. 



are asleep, that ye sorrow not as those who have 
no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and 
rose again, them also who sleep in Jesus will 
God bring with him*:" " For God is not un- 
righteous to forget their work and labour of 
love ; and we desire that every one of you do 
shew the same diligence to the full assurance of 
hope to the end ; that ye be not slothful, but fol- 
lowers of them who through faith and patience 
inherit the promises f ." 

The infirmities which adhere to the present 
life are not to be separated, in the best of us, from 
human virtues. But the good affections which 
predominate, are recorded in heaven. And if 
we shall " have our portion with those who have 
been faithful unto death," the result of our labours 
will also be for a memorial ; and it will be count- 
ed to us in our place " at the day of Christ." 

I have thus represented the idea of the text as 
applied to the good affections of private life, and 
to the general kindness of men to men. They 
perish in the grave ; but they leave their effects 



* 1 Thess. iv. 13. 14. 



f Hcb. vi. 10. 11, 12. 



SER. 6. 



BAD AFFECTIONS. 



193 



and their memorials on the earth; and they will 
at last revive, to be perfected in the kingdom 
pf God, 

I am now to consider, 

II. That the malignant affections produce 
as real effects on the affairs of this life, as 
those which tend to promote human happi- 
ness ; and that after all the disorders and mise- 
ries which result from them, they also perish in 
the grave, as if they had never been. " The 
hatred of the wicked," said Salomon, ¥ and their 
envy are perished \ neither have they any more 
a portion for ever in any thing that is done un- 
der the sun." 

It is the character which the gospel gives us 
of men destitute of principle, that " they live in 
malice and envy, hateful, and hating one ano- 
ther # ." No description can be more exact of 
the condition of those, who follow blindly the 
impulse of their worst passions, and who have 
neither principles nor affections to restrain them ; 
who pursue their own gratifications, in defiance 
of every moral and religious obligation; who 
look with a malignant or a jealous eye, on eve- 

* Titus ill. 3. 

N 



354 



THE RESULT OF 



SER. 6, 



ry man whom they think happier or more 
successful than themselves ; who regard with 
indignation or disdain whatever resists and what- 
ever reproaches them ; who scruple to commit 
no injury which can serve their purpose ; who 
hate with bitterness, and who never forgive. 

If there is not something good, there is at 
least something which is comparatively less ma- 
lignant, which mixes with the worst of human 
passions : and there is perhaps no character 
which is in every aspect and in every point 
equally depraved. But when the inveterate 
passions of hatred and envy predominate in 
those who live together, there is seldom to be 
found much to balance or compensate them. 
They misinterpret, they reproach, they revile 
one another. Viewing every thing with regard 
to one another in its worst aspect, to gratify 
their malice or revenge they will not only 
trample on every principle of duty, but they 
will sacrifice to them even their own interests or 
their personal comfort ; and in some instances 
even sources of private enjoyment which no- 
thing else would persuade them to relinquish. 

The most malignant spirits are restrained by 
the condition of human life : the most inve- 



SEU. 6. 



BAD AFFECTIONS. 



195 



terate hatred is overawed by the manners and 
by the laws which are established : and there 
are limits beyond which the worst passions can 
seldom go, in the present state of the world. 

There are many degrees of hatred and envy. 
They are mixed with many different motives 
and impressions. There are the shades of bad 
passions, which are sometimes seen to unite 
even with good affections; and good men them- 
selves are on some occasions tempted to com- 
mit injuries, or are betrayed into the envy or 
malignity of the world. 

These facts must not be forgotten. They are 
facts which ought to admonish the best of us to 
guard our tempers, and " to keep our hearts with 
all diligence facts, which teach us, in the 
most impressive form, how we ought " to watch 
and pray that we enter not into temptation f 
The least portion of envy or hatred corrupts and 
perverts whatsoever it approaches ; and he who 
shall but for a moment deliberately allow him- 
self to hate his brother in his heart, knows not 

* Proverbs iv. 23. f Matth. xxvi. 4L 

N % 



19@ THE RESULT OF SEK. 0, 

how far, or how fatally, his passions may per- 
vert him. 

But Solomon intended, by H the hatred and 
envy" of this text, to describe the bad charac- 
ters as distinguished from the good; and there- 
fore to represent those malignant passions as pre- 
dominating. He describes by them, not the in-? 
firmities, or even the great transgressions, into 
which men of real worth are sometimes betray- 
ed; but the strong and inveterate passions of 
those who have neither principle nor morals ; 
passions, which though they may in some in? 
stances be restrained by the manners of the 
world, or by the accidental interests or contrary 
passions of those whom they agitate, maintain 
their empire as the ruling or habitual passions of 
the heart, in defiance of all the authority of duty 
and religion. 

What dreadful havoc have they made on the 
state of the world ? Why is this man torn from 
his friend, or made wretched in his family ? dri- 
ven from his home, or blasted in his fame? It 
was the hatred of his neighbour which plunged 
him in misery; and his inexorable malignity 
which pursued him. He lost the esteem of his 



BAD AFFECTIONS, 



197 



friend, by the insidious falsehood of an enemy. 
He lost his peace at home, by the strifes which 
an enemy prepared for him ; and by wrongs 
which admitted of no reparation. An enemy 
envied his prosperity, and destroyed it ; and, to 
complete the injury, defamed his character, and 
was believed* 

Why is another man persecuted by a suc- 
cession of calamities, apparently unconnected and 
remote ? It is inveterate malignity which creates 
him an enemy on every side ; and which rears 
a serpent's head from every thicket. 

From whence come the strifes or turbulence 
cither of public or of private life ? From the ma* 
lignity of single men, irritating the passions and 
aggravating the contentions of those around them. 
The miseries inflicted by means of hatred and en* 
vy, no form of words can sufficiently describe. 
Their effects to destroy every good affection ; to 
pervert men's conduct with regard to every hu- 
man interest; to pollute every source of human sa- 
tisfaction ; and to agitate every dwelling of hu- 
man beings which they are permitted to enter ; 
comes minutely home to our deliberate convic- 



198 THE RESULT OF S£R. 6. 



tion, and more or less to every man's feelings 
and experience. 

But the miseries which bad passions create in 
the minds of those in whom they predominate^ 
are beyond all the other miseries of the human 
race. The most successful malignity is inex- 
pressible anguish within the breast of him from 
whom it comes. Its victims, wretched as they 
may be made by his means* are happy when 
compared with himself. He cannot but be con- 
scious of the unworrhiness of his conduct; but 
though he steadily resists the reproaches of his 
conscience, the inveteracy of his own passions 
tears his heart asunder, and leaves him equally 
Without a comforter, and without a consolation. 

But follow hatred and envy to the period to 
which Solomon directs us : follow them to the 
time when the malignant being is levelled with 
the dead, and when all his turbulence and strifes 
are buried in his grave ; when his contentions 
and his passions have ceased for ever; and when 
he can have no more any influence on the state 
of human life. That moment, with regard to 
the survivors^ is like the calm which follows the 



SER. 6* 



BAD AFFECTIONS. 



199 



horrible tern pes tj " when the wicked cease from 
troubling, and the weary are at rest." ft Ha- 
tred and envy have perished," and the world is 
in peace. The multitude will forget their suffe- 
rings, and the drooping heart will find its conso- 
lation, when the malignant spirit is heard no 
more. The strifes, the injuries, and the resent- 
ments, by which so many have been agitated, 
and from which so many can date their miseries, 
lose themselves in the tomb, which incloses for 
ever the hatred which created them. 

Some of the effects of hatred and envy may 
certainly last, after their authors are crumbled in- 
to dust; and an awful consideration this must 
be, to men who think and feel. But it is ever 
a consolation to the world, that " hatred and en- 
vy have perished," whatever may survive them. 
Another malignant being may arise, and claim 
his interest in the strifes which were before him ; 
and it may well humble in the dust the most 
unprincipled man, as he approaches to death, to 
imagine that by his obstinate perversity he has 
contributed to perpetuate such a curse upon the 
earth : for hatred and envy can have no memo- 
rial, but as the image of the infernal spirits, or 



200 



THE RESULT OF 



SER. 6. 



as the scourge by which they are permitted to 
aggravate the miseries of the human race. 

But we must follow hatred and envy farther 
still, to know their result and end. A wicked 
man dies at the appointed time : but his spirit 
does not die. Alas ! his place is ready* " To- 
phet is ordained of old*';" the place in which 
malignant spirits are to d\vell for ever. Hatred, 
and strife, and envy are there; " the worm which 
dieth not f" the hatred and " the fire which are 
not quenched J." All the apostate spirits are 
there together ; abhorred, and abhorring one ail- 
other; blaspheming the God of heaven, and con- 
scious that they are not to be separated for ever. 

If this description is founded in truth, the 
result of malignity is certain as the unchangeable- 
ness of God, Ought it not t;> make a deep impres- 
sion on our consciences, and to compel us to pray ? 
M Father of our spirits, suffer us not to be tempt- 
ed above what we are able to bear : help us to 
govern our spirits, and to purify them : help us 
" to fly from the wrath to come." 

* Isaiah xxx. 33. f Marls W« 44. 

X Mark xi. 46. 



sfcir. 6. 



BAD AFFECTIONS. 



201 



Ought it not to reach the hearts of those 
who are agitated or governed by hatred and 
envy, in demonstration of the Spirit, and of 
power? The result of all their malignity falls 
at last on themselves; and "except they re- 
pent," seals their everlasting doom with the 
worst of the wicked. 

If we regard the substantial or permanent hap- 
piness of our natures, either in this world, or in 
the world to come, we shall fly from the strifes 
around us, as the greatest and the worst of evils. 
We shall tremble at the thought of hatred, which 
takes away the heart. We shall pray and watch 
without ceasing, that amidst all the infirmities of 
our fallen nature, this " sin may not lie upon 
us." 

It is love, and love to which no hatred is con- 
joined, from which alone even our present sa- 
tisfactions are derived. Why, said an envious 
spirit, to a happy family; a family who la- 
boured to give happiness to those who hated 
them; why are ye so happy, and am I so 
wretched ; ye who have so much less prosperity 
than I possess ? W^e are happy, they replied, not 
from any unusual prosperity in our lot, but be* 



202 THE RESULT, &C; SER. 6. 

cause we have no hatred, or envy* to agitate our 
minds, or to pollute our satisfactions. 

u I say unto you," said our Lord, " love your 
enemies ; bless them who curse you, do good 
to them who hate you, and pray for them who 
despitefully use you and persecute you ; that ye 
may be the children of your father who is in 
heaven f." 

Wherefore, my brethren, suffer this word of 
exhortation ; for this is the law, and the gos- 
pel. 



* Matth. v. 44, 45, 



SERMON VII 



ON 

THE INHERITANCE OF A GOOD MAN'S 
CHILDREN. 



proverbs xiii. 22. 
" A good man leaveth an inheritance to his chil- 
dren s children 

It is an interesting and indisputable truth, that 
the happiness of men depends less on their ex- 
ternal conditions than on their personal virtues. 
u A good man is satisfied from himself and 

* This sermon was preached before the Society incorporated 
by royal charter, for the benefit of the Sons of the Clergy of 
the Church of Scotland, May 29- 1792. 

The coincidence of the illustrations contained in it with the 
subject of the preceding sermon will be obvious to every 
reader ; but did not appear to the author to be a sufficient rea- 
son, to prevent its re-publication in the present volume. If it 
shall contribute to attract the attention of any individual to the 
institution which gave occasion to its first publication, he will not 
think it has been improperly inserted ; and allows himself to 
believe, that his readers will consider it rather as a continuation 
of the subject of the preceding sermon, than as a repetition of 
the sentiments which it contains. 



204 



THE INHERITANCE OF 



SER. ?• 



peace of conscience and trust in God are more 
precious blessings than all the wealth of the 
world. 

This is the doctrine of our Lord Jesus Christ* 
who came down from heaven to bless mankind 
and to save them. " Blessed are the poor in 
spirit — blessed are they that mourn — blessed are 
the meek — blessed are they which do hunger 
and thirst after righteousness— blessed are the 
merciful — blessed are the pure in heart — blessed 
are the peace-makers — blessed are they which 
are persecuted for righteousness sake*." He 
represents the characters of good men, by the 
virtues or dispositions which distinguish them 
in different situations ; and pronounces them 
" blessed" in all the conditions of human life. 
" The kingdom of G-od is righteousness, and 
peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost f." 

But besides the personal happiness which a 
good man enjoys, this text affirms that the ef- 
fects of his habits are transmitted to his children, 
and even to their descendants. Though he has 
neither wealth nor rank to convey to them. 



* Math, v. 1—10. 



t Rom. si v. 17 o 



SER. 7» A GOOD MAN'S CHILDREN. £05 

they derive from his character a sufficient and a 
permanent inheritance. Solomon refers chiefly 
to the prosperity of this life : and contrasting 
the advantages which " a good man leaves to his 
children's children," with the uncertain tenure 
of riches possessed without principle or morals, 
he affirms, that " the wealth of the sinner is laid 
up for the just # ." The providence of God 
smiles on the industry and virtue of a good 
man's children, and leads them on to prosperity 
and wealth ; while the families of unprincipled 
men, entering into life without the advantages 
of early culture, are too frequently degraded by 
their misconduct from the condition which they 
have inherited from their fathers. 

I shall first consider the doctrine of the text, 
and then the practical conclusions which it sug- 
gests to us. 

I. The instruction of a good man is an inheri- 
tance to his children. 

Our happiness, and even our prosperity in the 
world, depend more on the culture of our youth 
than on all the external advantages which can 



* Prov. xiii. 22, 



206 



THE INHERITANCE OF 



SER. 7. 



belong to our conditions. The habits which a 
y oung man acquires under his father's eye, are 
the foundations of his character. He who has 
trained his son " in the nurture and admonition 
of the Lord," to godliness, and truth, and jus- 
tice, and fidelity ; who has taught him to restrain 
his temper, and to govern his tongue ; to, subject 
his interest to his duty, his passions to his con- 
science, his inclinations to his understanding . 
leaves him in possession of the most permanent 
advantages of human Ufe. Whatever his condi- 
tion may be, he has the means of prosperity in 
his hands ; and the most certain sources of satis- 
faction in the enjoyment of whatever he acquires. 
Even talents are subordinate to virtues ; and 
good affections are of more importance in human 
life than the most splendid ornaments of an un- 
principled mind. 

It is not in every man's power to add to the 
habits on which the religious and moral charac- 
ter depends, the principles of liberal knowledge, 
and the views of a liberal mind. But he who 
has done this, sends his children into the world 
with those precious endowments, without which 
the wealth of the ricji serves only to render 



SER. 7« A GOOD MAN ? S CHILDREN^ 



£07 



tliem more conspicuously contemptible or un- 
happy. 

Men of the same worth are not equally qua- 
lified, for the duties of parental tuition, and 
their children have not the same advantages. 
But there is a minuteness and an affection in the 
paternal care of a good man, which supplies the 
want of many talents ; an earnestness and a pu- 
rity of design, which is consecrated in the minds 
of his children, and leaves indelible impressions. 
They venerate his intentions, even where his 
judgment has failed him. They look back on 
his solicitude and on his faithful admonitions, 
with an affection and reverence which the suc- 
cession of years does not destroy. In their 
struggles betwixt principle and temptations, they 
hear his voice from the tomb; and if they per- 
sist in the path of duty, or are successful in the 
pursuits of life, it is their pride and their conso- 
lation, that they reap the fruits of his paternal 
labours and of his last instructions. 

II. The example of a good man is an inheri- 
tance to his children. 

The character of a father lies at the founda- 
tion of his influence, and the effect of his pater- 



208 



THE INHERITANCE OF 



SER. TV 



nal solicitudes depends on it. His habits are 
his most successful admonitions ; and the exam- 
ples of religion and probity which his children 
receive from the general tenor of his temper and 
conduct, are his most permanent instructions. 
He who has gone before his children in the path 
of duty, and has shewn them in his own con- 
duct the effects of godliness and of integrity in 
practice, leaves on their minds impressions of his. 
character, which remain with them through life, 
and which interest and determine them in the 
most trying situations. If he has convince^ 
them that he derives his motives and his conso- 
lations from the sincerity of his faith ; that he 
allows no competition to be in his mind betwixt 
the praise of men, and the approbation of God ; 
betwixt " the wages of iniquity," and " the 
testimony of a good conscience p betwixt the 
considerations of selfishness, or the pride of life, 
and the opportunities of being useful to other 
men, or the " labour of love," and of good 
works; betwixt the utmost gratifications of 
pleasure or ambition, and the substantial satis- 
factions which arise from purity of mind : if he 
has given these impressions of his character to 



SER. f. A GOOD MAN'S CHILDREN. 



£09 



his children, his example does more to deter- 
mine their habits than his best instructions. — 
They remember him with tenderness and awe, 
when sinners entice them : They think of him 
with an honourable pride, when their conduct is 
worthy of his character and of his hopes : When 
his head is laid in the dust, they cherish his me- 
mory, to stimulate and to guide them in the path 
of dut} 7 : And after they have been long accus- 
tomed to think and to act for themselves, they 
trace back to the effects of his example both 
their prosperity and their virtues. 

Even those who have lost their fathers before 
they could reap the benefit of their example, 
hear of their virtues with a generous ardour, as 
precious memorials transmitted to them, which 
ought to influence their conduct, and from which 
they derive a personal distinction. The living 
example given by a good man to a dutiful son, 
furnishes him with practical lessons to enforce 
the instructions of his youth, to teach him the 
application of principle to conduct, and to form 
both his views of life and his habits of act- 
ing. They are sealed on his heart by his filial 
affection, and he cherishes the remembrance of 

o 



210 THE INHERITANCE OF SER. 7. 

them as the foundations of his character. Even 
a degenerate son feels the awe of his father's vir- 
tues. They operate early as a restraint, and 
have more influence than is always seen. Some- 
times, too, by the grace of God, they operate at 
a later period, to convince him, when he ha$ 
been perverted, how far and how fatally he has 
erred. 

There are certainly defects in all human cha- 
racters, which render our best examples to our 
children very imperfect; and errors, adopted in 
practice, must be admitted to have more perni- 
cious consequences, than the worst defects of ge- 
neral instruction. But it will be observed, that 
the habitual errors of a good man are not vices, 
and that defects or infirmities prevent not the 
influence of substantial virtues. It is of more 
importance to add, that it is agreeable to the laws 
of Nature and Providence, or is a consequence 
of their influence, that the defects of a father 
should be separated in the minds of his chil- 
dren from his better qualities. They do not al- 
low themselves to dwell oh his infirmities, though 
they are not ignorant of them; and from the 
habits of filial love, they lose the recollection of 



SER. 7. A GOOD MAN'S CHILDREN" • £H 

them. But their imaginations and their affec- 
tions consecrate the memory of his virtues. 

The best advantages may undoubtedly be 
lost; and success in life is not always the effect 
of the most probable means of attaining it. 
There are exceptions to the influence of every 
general cause of prosperity which can be men- 
tioned, arising from the perversion of indivi- 
duals, or from the wise and unalterable ar- 
rangements of Providence, But it is certain, on 
the other hand, that the characters which are 
formed by the faithful instruction and pure ex- 
amples of good men, are accompanied with ad- 
vantages to those who possess them, both for 
the duties and for the happiness of active life, 
which nothing else, which they inherit from their 
fathers, can confer on them. Virtue and pro- 
bity, cultivated into confirmed habits, if there are 
any talents united to them, are the best securities 
for the fidelity, the industry, the reputation, and 
the success, which place men in prosperous con- 
ditions. Every wise man regards them as solid 
and permanent advantages, and labours to trans- 
mit them to his children; and even unprincipled 
men feel their importance, though their person- 

o2 



212 THE INHERITANCE OF SER. f, 

al characters deprive them of the means of con- 
veying them. 

III. The care and protection of Providence 
are an inheritance to a good man's children, 

A good man will neglect none of the means 
which his situation affords him, to qualify his 
children for the business and the duties of life, and 
to promote their prosperity in the world. But 
while he uses his utmost endeavours for their 
advantage, his chief dependance is on Provi- 
dence. He commits his children to God, He 
expects from him the protection and prosperity, 
of which no human foresight can assure them. 
This is a certain and perpetual resource. His 
paternal labours are sanctified by prayer. The 
solicitudes of a father give place to the faith of a 
Christian. He relies on the records of inspira-? 
tion, illustrated by the experience of all the 
ages; and commends his children to the God 
of his fathers, assured of his faithful promise : 
" Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve 
them alive # ." " The mercy of the Lord is from e-? 
verlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, 
and his righteousness unto children's children f," 



* Jerem. xlix. 11. f Psalm ciii. 17* 



SER. 7. A GOOD MAN'S CHILDREN. 



213 



" When my father and my mother forsake me, then 
the Lord will take me up*." " I have been young, 
and now am old, yet have I not seen the right- 
eous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread '(*." 
The prayer of paternal love is not warranted or 
encouraged in vain by these indelible records : 
" The promise is to us and to our children •" 
and the children of the faithful are holy as the 
heritage of the Lord* The prayers of a devout 
man, purified by faith and by good works, are 
remembered before God, for the children whom 
he has given him. 

It is a law of Providence, which was incorpo- 
rated with the first written law delivered to the 
world, that God " shews mercy to thousands of 
them that love him," and to their children after 
them; and we have good reason from experi- 
ence to believe, that for the sake of faithful men 
he has compassion even on the wicked and the 
hardened. This law is written on the hearts of 
the people, so as to render them conscious of the 
claims of a good man's family when their con- 
dition is understood, and to interest in their 



* Psalm xxvii. 10. 



f Psalm xxxvii. 25« 



S14 THE INHERITANCE OF SER. ?. 

prosperity even those to whom they are not 
known. 

The testimony of ages shews that this law has 
its full effect, and warrants the confidence with 
which devout men commit their children to God. 
The history of human life is the record of Pro- 
vidence ; and it is not the least interesting volume 
of this record, which contains the events by which 
Providence has raised up the children of the 
faithful beyond all the hopes of their fathers. 

One man sends forth his children into the 
world without wealth and without friends, with 
no advantages but the instruction he has gi- 
ven them, and his blessing, and his prayers : 
and the hand of the Lord is with them ; and 
they prosper in their honourable labours ; and 
they gain the esteem and confidence of stran- 
gers; and God raises up a friend when they need 
his help; and the course of unforeseen events 
opens to them a succession of new resources ; and 
they reach a condition to which they were not 
born; and they return with wealth and honour 
into the bosom of their father's house; and he 
lives still, to give thanks to the God of his fathers 3 
and his latter days are happier than his first. 



SER. 7. 



A GOOD MAN'S CHILDREN. 



215 



Another man has only lived to embrace 
his children, and to commend them to God. 
They are helpless infants, cast on the eare 
of Providence ; but they are chosen to be 
eminent examples of the faithfulness of God. 
He raises up men of different views and cha- 
racters to fulfil to them the duties of a father. 
By their means they enjoy more liberal advan- 
tages than their parents could have given them ; 
and even the circumstance which has deprived 
them of the benefits of paternal care, is used by 
Providence to assure them of the means of pros- 
perity. They become more the objects of at- 
tention, than they would have been in their ori- 
ginal situation. They enjoy opportunities of 
exertion and success, from which a more pros- 
perous beginning would have naturally excluded 
them. If they experience the help of their fa-» 
ther's friends, they are as often indebted to the 
kindness of a stranger. They are able at last to 
bring forward one another, and to be useful to 
other men. And they remember together, with 
affection and reverence, the virtues and the pray- 
ers of a father, which Providence has consecra- 
ted as " an inheritance" to them. 



216 



THE INHERITANCE OF 



SER. 7i 



The conduct of Providence in similar cases, 
is too much diversified to be represented in de- 
tail. But if we shall look into the various de- 
partments of human lift, and consider by whom 
they are occupied ; if we shall recollect the his- 
tory of the worthy, the active, the prosperous* 
the opulent men ; we shall find that no small 
proportion of them have been the children of 
Providence. We shall see among them men 
who have derived nothing from their fathers but 
the effects of paternal virtues; men who have 
been brought forward by the help to which 
they were conscious of no claim* and of which 
they had no natural expectation ; men who have 
been indebted to events which are denominated 
the accidents of life, which, though unforeseen 
by men, are the decrees of God; men who 
have found patronage and protection where they 
least expected them, and at the most critical sea- 
sons, and whose success has exceeded all their 
computations; men who look back with com- 
placency on the humble sphere in which their 
fathers served God, " in the labour of love" 
and of good works, and who have the pure sa- 
tisfaction of believing, that " their prayers and 



SER. 7. A GOOD MAn's CHILDREN. 217 

their alms have come up before God, as a me- 
morial *" for them. 

We do not always acknowledge the agency 
of Providence in the events of which we can 
trace the second causes ; and we enjoy our pros- 
perity without reflecting on the source of it* 
But the influence of God on the circumstan* 
ces which regulate our lot, is real and perpe- 
tual, amidst all the irreligion and incredulity of 
the world. Though we do not reverence the 
hand that guides us, " he is faithful who hath 
promised!;" and "though we believe not, he 
abideth faithful $/f 

The plan of Providence is not so uniform, as 
to render it certain that the children of good 
men will be always prosperous. The general 
laws which influence human affairs are not sus* 
pended for the benefit of individuals ; and their 
own misconduct often determines their condi- 
tions. The children often suffer from the im*» 
proper management of their early education, 
originating not from the intentions, but from the 



* Acts x. 4. 
f 2 Tim. ii. 13, 



f Heb. x. 23. 



218 



THE INHERITANCE OF SEil. 7. 



mistakes of their parents. The moral discipline, 
too, which they require, and the purposes which 
Providence has chosen them to accomplish, are 
often inconsistent with the prosperity which 
they do not attain. 

But with all these exceptions, of which we 
can easily perceive the extent, there is a suffi- 
cient number of facts, established by the expe- 
rience of many generations, and obvious to the 
attention of every devout mind, to illustrate the 
general doctrine, that the children of a good man 
are objects of the peculiar care and protection of 
Heaven ; that while he uses his best endeavours 
to promote their prosperity, he is justified by 
experience in the confidence with which he re- 
signs their lot to God; that Providence is to 
him a source of which no situation can de- 
prive him, and is the chief inheritance of his 
children. 

We can see the families of unprincipled men 
suffering the consequences of their depravity, 
and by the course of events, as well as by their 
own misconduct, falling from the condition in 
which their fathers had placed them. The pro- 
vidence of God scatters the accumulations of ava- 



SER. 7- A GOOD MAn's CHILDREN. 219 



rice and violence, and, according to the language 
of the Mosaical law, " visits the iniquities of the 
fathers upon the children, unto the third and 
fourth generations*." But the effects of virtue 
and probity are permanent ; and, amidst all the 
variety of pursuits and conditions which distin- 
guish the children of good men in this world, 
they reap the blessing of their fathers after ma- 
ny days. I add, 

IV, That the kindness of faithful men is an 
inheritance to a good man's children. 

With all the advantages with which a father 
can send his children into the world, their suc- 
cess must in a great measure depend on the as- 
sistance and the friendship of other men; and 
the purposes of Providence in their favour are 
accomplished, by means of those whom God 
raises up to assist, or to guide them. But the 
hearts of men, as well as the course of events, 
are in the hands of God ; and he selects the in- 
struments of his purpose from all the variety of 
human characters. The selfish, the envious, the 
deceitful, the profligate, are subservient to him % 

* Exod. xx. 5. 



220 



THE INHERITANCE OP 



SER. 7. 



and furnish (often indeed from bad motives, and 
as often without intending it), both the occasions 
and the means, by which the children of Provi- 
dence reap the inheritance of their fathers. But 
the kindness of men who are themselves guided 
by principle, to the children of those who were 
faithful while they lived, is a department of du- 
ties which belong to their proper characters, and 
which are enforced by the spirit and by the laws 
of religion. This is one of the most interesting 
forms in which one good man can meet the af- 
fections of another, or acknowledge the relation 
which unites them. The protection given to 
the children, is more than friendship to their fa- 
ther. It is the disinterested homage due to pu- 
rity of principle and to good works, or it is the 
active testimony of an upright mind to the me- 
mory of departed virtues. " Whosoever," said 
our Lord, " shall do the will of my Father who 
is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, 
and mother *." The satisfaction of contributing, 
from a sense of duty, to repay to the children 
the godly sincerity of the father, and his con* 



* Math. xii. 50. 



SER. 7. A GOOD MAN'S CHILDREN. 221 



tentment, and his " labour of love," is a pledge 
to a man himself that his own mind is pure. It 
is love to a disciple, " because he belongs to 
Christ*." It is the " charity, which is the end 
of the commandment, out of a pure heart, and 
a good conscience, and faith unfeigned j\" We 
owe the offices of humanity to men of all cha- 
racters and kindreds, as the children of that God 
" who hath made of one blood all the nations 
of men;" and the spirit of active benevolence 
which Christianity has spread among the na- 
tions, and which has at least as much energy 
among the men of the present time, as it had in 
any former age, is a permanent barrier raised 
up by the Son of God, for the protection of the 
helpless and the orphan, in all the situations of 
human life. But the benevolent attentions which 
we owe to the families of good men, besides the 
obligations they derive from the considerations 
of humanity, are enforced by Christianity (like 
every thing else which belongs to " the love of 
the brethren") as the test of vital religion in our- 
selves ; as the pledge of our union to " the 



* Mark ix. 41 . 



t 1 Tim. i. 5. 



2£2 



THE INHERITANCE OF 



SER. 7- 



household of faith," and of our relation and fi- 
delity to Him " who is the head over all things 
to the church," and " who gathers together in 



the apostle John, " that we have passed from 
death to life, because we love the brethren * 
and " inasmuch," says our Lord, " as ye have 
done" a kindness " to one of the least of these 
my brethren, ye have done it unto mef." It is 
an idea which has a peculiar energy in the mind 
of a man whom " the love of Christ constrains," 
and whom the law of Christ determines, that 
his affection to the children shall be a pledge of 
his union to their father in " the household of 
God," and of his relation to their Master and 
his. Our children are more precious to us than 
all the prosperity of human life; and it must be 
strong consolation to a father's heart, to believe 
that a memorial for his family is written on the 
conscience of every man " who loves our Lord 
Jesus Christ in sincerity." To the children, it 
is an inheritance " better than the riches of ma- 
ny wicked," on which they have a right to re- 

* 1 John iii. 14. f Matth. xxv. 40. 



one the children of God. 



" We know," says 



SER. 7. A GOOD MAN'S CHILDREN. 



]y, in proportion to the progress of practical 
Christianity among men, and to the power of 
the doctrines of Christ over the minds of the 
faithful. 

The obligations which I have represented are 
indisputable. And though, from the imperfec- 
tion of human virtues, and our imperfect know- 
ledge of one another, the effects of our attention 
to the children of good men may not be as ex- 
tensive as they ought to be, I trust and believe, 
by the gospel of Christ, that when " the redeem- 
ed of the Lord shall be gathered," and the fa- 
thers, and the children, and the benefactors, shall 
be assembled together, this branch of fidelity 
shall not be found the least in the kingdom of 
God. With the best intentions, our judgment 
may mislead us ; but that which is " done to a 
disciple, in the name of a disciple, shall in no 
case lose its reward." 

" A good man leaveth an inheritance to his 
children's children'' If the doctrine of this 
text has been in any degree illustrated, it is ea- 
sy to see, how the inheritance of the sons be- 
comes the portion of their children. The same 



224 THE IKHERITANCE OF SER. J. 

general characters, as well as the effects of the 
prosperity of individuals, are transmitted through 
many generations, Every man must have ob- 
served, that the dispositions of the ancestor are 
found in his descendants ; and that a man who 
perseveres in the habits to which his fathers have 
formed him, teaches them successfully to his 
children after him. It is not less obvious, that 
the virtues of a family will often prevail against 
the vices of an individual. They will save him 
from the degradation which his misconduct has 
deserved, and they will rescue his children from 
the effects of his example. The prosperity of 
many families is known to be preserved through 
successive generations, long after they have lost 
the virtues of their ancestors • and though there 
are many other rules by which the wisdom 
of God determines the lot of men, a devout 
man will often find reasons for believing, that 
the indulgence of Providence, continued to un- 
worthy individuals, is to be traced to the me- 
mory of those who were before them, and to 
the covenant of the Lord in behalf of their de- 
scendants. 

It is one of the most forcible considerations. 



SER. 7* A GOOD MAN'S CHILDREN. 225 

which can animate the efforts of a benevolent 
mind, that the small but faithful offices of kind- 
ness done to the child of a good man, may, by 
God's providence, and according to his faithful 
promise, become the means of transmitting vir- 
tue and prosperity through successive genera- 
tions. 

I have said all that I proposed on the doc- 
trine of the text. Let us now attend to the prac- 
tical conclusipns which it suggests to us. The 
extent of the subject is beyond the limits of one 
discourse ; and I must confine myself to the 
most obvious remarks, without attempting to 
pursue them. 

1. The doctrine suggests to every father, his 
indispensible obligation to give to his children 
the inheritance of the faithful. " 

Their happiness and prosperity depend more 
on his personal habits, than on all his industry 
and wealth. The unprincipled manners of a fa- 
ther deprive his children, not only of the best 
advantages of paternal love, but of the substantial 
effects of paternal virtues. Their consequences 
to himself reach from this life to the life that ne- 
ver ends ; and their pernicious influence on the 

p 



226* THE INHERITANCE OF SER. 7, 

character and condition of his family, may be 
extended through distant generations. On the 
other hand, the tenderness of parental affection 
adds the most animating considerations to the 
obligations of our faith, and of our moral duties. 
The most important interests of our children 
depend on the habits and dispositions, which they 
shall derive from us. If we shall be faithful to 
God and to them, we may live to enjoy their 
virtues and tlieir prosperity; or if Providence 
shall deny us this satisfactipn, we shall at least die 
in peace, leaving them with confidence to the 
God of their fathers; and our names will be 
remembered with esteem and honour among 
their descendants. 

% The doctrine should teach the children of 
good men, with how much anxiety they ought 
to preserve the moral and religious advantages 
which they have received from their fathers. 

It is their indispensible duty to maintain the 
character of their father's house, that their poste- 
rity may inherit the blessing, which has come 
down to them; to possess, with gratitude tq 
<Jod, the prosperity which he has given them 



SER. 7. A GOOD MAN'S CHILDREN. 



227 



for the sake of their fathers ; to give examples 
of godliness, of fidelity, and of good works, 
worthy of the race of which they are descended ; 
and that the name and the inheritance of their 
fathers may be permanent, as " he is faithful 
who hath promised," " to command their chil- 
dren, and their household after them, to keep 
the way of the Lord, to do justice and judg«> 
ment." There are no advantages which may 
not be abused and forfeited ; and the perversion 
of the children of faithful men, while they enjoy 
the effects of the virtues of their ancestors, has 
peculiar aggravations. I add, 

3. That the doctrine ought to satisfy every 
conscientious man, of his personal obligations to 
contribute to the utmost of his power, to ensure 
to the children of good men the inheritance be^ 
queathed to them by their fathers. 

It is by means of the services and of the help 
which men receive from one another, that the 
designs of Providence are accomplished; And 
when we embrace, with simplicity of heart, the 
opportunities which are within our sphere, to 
guide the industry or to assist the exertions of a 
good man's family, we fulfil an important branch 

p 2 



228 



THE INHERITANCE OF 



SER. 7. 



of our personal duties, and are " fellow-work- 
ers together with God." Our usefulness is not 
limited by the particular advantages which indi- 
viduals derive from us, but extends to the dis- 
tant consequences of their virtue and prosperity 
in the world. 

Every man can discern the opportunities of 
being useful in this department of duty, which 
arise out of his own situation ; and how far he 
ought in every instance to embrace them, mu$t 
be left to his understanding and his conscience. 
No man's condition allows him to do all the 
good which might be done, or to give all the 
help which the families of worthy men require. 
It is an object, as much of duty as of prudence, 
to select the cases, in which our endeavours will 
be most productive, and in which the means we 
possess will be mpst effectual to fill up our por- 
tion of " the labour of love." 

It is obvious, that those who have been de- 
prived of their parents in their infancy, and who 
have been cast on the care of Providence, with- 
out culture and without wealth, have peculiar 
claims on our beneficence. Their helpless con- 
dition, added to their father's prayers and alms, 



SER. 7. A GOOD MANS CHILDREN. 

are irresistible arguments with a faithful and be- 
nevolent mind. 

But a father, from whom his children receive 
the benefit both of instruction and example, is 
often prevented, by his want of wealth, from 
bestowing on them those liberal advantages, 
which are suited to their talents, and to the rank 
which he holds in society. In this case, much 
good may be done at a little expence, by the 
wise and affectionate counsel of those, who are 
more conversant than himself in the business of 
the world ; or by their patronage, or by a small 
assistance given at a proper season, and in a form 
suited to his condition. 

Though those who enjoy prosperity, and 
have no families to share it, can do more than 
others, the circumstances of human life allow 
few individuals to take on themselves the charge 
of other men's children. But the united exer- 
tions of benevolent men can accomplish ends, 
to which their separate endeavours are unequal. 
Public institutions, for the purpose of ensuring 
to the young, the inheritance which they de- 
rive from their fathers, collect into one channel 
the counsels and beneficence of individuals, 



^30 THE INHERITANCE OF SER. fi 

whose means of usefulness in this department 
are too limited, to produce any considerable ef- 
fects in private life. The poor widow casts in 
her mite, with the rich who make ari offering 
to purify their wealth. The silent beneficence 
which shuns the light, is added to the effects of 
public liberality, without departing from the 
path of " alms which are done in secret." 
And rich men who die, conscious that during 
the course of their prosperity, they have neglect- 
ed the good works which they might have done, 
can leave an offering behind them, worthy of 
their last impressions, to help the unhappy and 
the fatherless in the world, 

I do not pretend to give a full enumeration 
of cases, which every man's understanding and 
his heart may suggest to him. I have made 
these observations, because they coincide precise- 4 
]y with the objects of the benevolent institutj&n, 
which gives occasion to this annual meeting. 

" The Societv for the benefit of the Sons of 
the Clergy of the established Church of Scot- 
land," was instituted at Edinburgh in the begin- 
ning of February 1790. Its general object is* 
to form a permanent fund, by means of sub* 



SfeR. %: A GOOD MAN'S CHILDREN. 231 



scriptions, donations, bequests, or contributions; 
the annual revenue of which, shall be applied 
to assist the sons of ministers of the established 
Church of Scotland, in acquiring the education 
which is suited to the rank which their fathers 
hold in the country, and those professional qua- 
lifications which are necessary to bring them for* 
ward into active employments. The advanta- 
ges of the institution are to be extended, without 
limitation, to every district of the kingdom, and 
to young men intended for any active profession. 
No distinctions can be made, but such as are ne- 
cessary, in discriminating the circumstances of 
those who expect the aid of the Society, and in 
the impartial selection of cases, in which the 
greatest good can be done at the least expence. 
Other advantages, besides pecuniary aid, may be 
expected from the united endeavours of the re* 
spec-table men whom this institution has associa- 
ted, who have no other object than to be useful 
to the children of ministers; and who pledge 
themselves to the public, to embrace every op- 
portunity to assist their talents, and to promote 
their success in life. The benefits which indi- 
viduals derive from the institution, will not be 



252 THE INHERITANCE OF SEU. 7- 

confined to themselves, but in their consequen- 
ces will reach every member of their father's fa- 
milies, whom their prosperity or their exertions 
can assist. 

The Society have confined their first atten- 
tion to the sons of the clergy. But they have 
reserved power to themselves, when the increase 
of their capital shall render it prudent, to ex- 
tend a similar assistance to the daaght&s of mi- 
nisters, to enable them also to acquire the ad- 
vantages arising from useful employments. 

They have the best reasons to be assured, that 
the general design has received the approbation 
of the public. From the first day of the insti- 
tution, two years ago, their funds have been gra- 
dually increasing. A very considerable addition 
has been made to them, since the last annual meet- 
ing : And since that period, too, his Majesty has 
been pleased to grant his royal charter, constitu- 
ting the Society a legal corporation ; which, be- 
sides the authority which it gives to the institu- 
tion, entitles them to hold property in the coun- 
trv, and to receive legacies, bequests, and dona- 
tions, according to the benevolence of the public. 

It has been ah object of their utmost atten- 



SER. 7. 



A GOOD MAN'S CHILDREN. 



tion to secure the purity of management, and 
the faithful and impartial application of the funds 
of the Society ; and they persuade themselves, 
that the precautions which have been taken, will 
not be ineffectual. They trust in the providence 
of God, that the objects, which they have in 
view, will be secured by their perseverance, and 
by the continued favour of the public; and 
they have the greatest encouragement, in observ- 
ing the many prosperous institutions of bene- 
volence around them, which have risen, from 
small beginnings, into useful and permanent 
establishments. 

I think it unnecessary to say more. Every 
thing else which belongs to the subject, will be 
found in the printed accounts of the Society. 

The livings of the clergy of this church are 
known to-be inadequate, both to the condition 
of the country, and to the importance of their 
rank and office among their fellow-citizens. No 
body of men, consisting of the same number^ 
have better supported their reputation for purity 
of morals, or faithful labours, for liberal know- 
ledge, or public usefulness, or for private and 
domestic virtues : and I am persuaded I speak 



234 THE INHERITANCE, &C. SER. 7* 

both to your understandings and to your affec- 
tions, when I add, that, from the general cha- 
racter which they must be allowed to possess^ 
their children are well entitled, among their 
brethren, to reap the inheritance of the faithful 
Now, may the Lord God of heaven and 
earth, and Jesus Christ, " the great Shepherd of 
the flock," bless and prosper this institution, for 
the sake of our brethren, and of the children 
who are born to them, and of many generations 
after we shall be gathered to our fathers. 



SERMON VIII. 

Oft 

THE DOCTRINE OF GRACE, 



ROMANS V. 20, 

« — u Where sin abounded, grace did much more 
abound." 

T here is in this chapter a striking descrip* 
tion of the original fall of man, and of our 
final restoration. The effect of Adam s disobe- 
dience to entail guilt and misery on his descen- 
dants, is stated in opposition to the efficacy of 
the great redemption, accomplished by the obe- 
dience of Jesus Christ. And this text repre- 
sents, in contrast, the effects of the general per* 
version, or its progress in the conduct of indivi- 
dual sinners, and of " the grace" which effectu* 
ally renovates and restores us» 



c 136 



THE DOCTRINE 



SER. 8. 



The term " grace" signifies, in general, the 
undeserved kindness of God, united to the pow- 
er which renders it effectual to attain its end : 
And the text affirms, that in all its different 
forms and aspects, " the grace of God," to those 
who receive it, has far exceeded the measure 
and the effects of their perversion. 

I shall suggest illustrations of this doctrine, as 
it relates to the state of mankind, or is applied to 
individuals ; and, with this view, shall consider 
" the grace of God," in contrast with the guilt 
and the depravity, with the miseries, with the 
mortality, and with the final perditimi, which 
are represented in the Scriptures as the conse- 
quences of man's apostacy from his Creator. 

" The grace of God abounds" even to those 
who persist in hardening their hearts against his 
authorit}^. They experience his forbearance and 
his tender mercies, under every aggravation, and 
in every period of their impenitence. The gos- 
pel, which contains the doctrine of redemption 
by Jesus Christ, its impressive warnings, its ear- 
nest admonitions, and the glorious prospects held 
out to those who turn from sin to God, are all 
addressed to them ; although they continue to 



SER. 8. 



OF GRACE. 



237 



resist every good impression made on their minds, 
and render the most important information in- 
effectual, by their obstinate incredulity. 

But it is evident, that while the apostle, on 
the one hand, directs our thoughts, by the text, 
to the general effects of the apostacy from God 
on the condition of mankind ; on the other 
hand, in representing " grace as abounding more 
than sin," he refers exclusively to. the situations 
of those, to whom the gospel is effectually 
preached, and who "believe to the saving of their 
souls." " They receive not the grace of God in 
vain The effects and the dominion of sin 
are both completely and finally destroyed, by 
c ? the grace which bringeth them salvation, and 
hath appeared unto all men." " Grace abounds" 
to them, and predominates in their experience, 
" much more than sin for they are effectually 
" turned from darkness unto light, and from the 
power of Satan unto God fJ- Sin brought 
death and every other evil on the earth. But 
the dominion of grace is far greater, when it 
not only secures, to those who believe and obey 



f 2 Cor. yi. 1. 



t Acts xxvi. 18. 



23S 



THE DOCTRINE 



SER. S. 



the gospel, a state of being as happy as that 
which was forfeited by the apostacy of man, but 
effectually puts them in possession of " eternal 
life" among the angels of God, who (( have kept 
their first estate." This is precisely the illustra- 
tion wich the apostle has given us of the asser-* 
tion in the text : " Where sin abounded, grace 
did much more abound. Sin reigned unto death : 
Grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal 
life, by Jesus Christ our Lord % 1 ' 

Keeping this idea in our minds, that it is 
" grace" effectual to attain its end, which the 
apostle has stated, in contrast with the effects 
which sin has produced on the condition of the 
world, 

Let us consider, 

I. The guilt and depravity of men. 

" By one man sin entered into the world f 
and " by his disobedience, many were made sin- 
ners £." 

This is no speculation which we may contro- 
vert or reject. Asserted in the gospel, it is a 



* Romans v. 21. 
J Romans v. lp. 



f Romans v. 12. 



SER. 8. 



OF GRACE. 



239 



melancholy fact, engraven on the consciences of 
mankind, and on the history of ages. 

The guilt which, from the earliest time, has 
overspread the face of the earth ; or the depra- 
vity which adheres to every country, and to eve- 
ry condition of human life; no man, who is 
capable of deliberate reflection, will find it pos- 
sible to deny. The vices which debase the most 
ignorant and barbarous people, and the vices 
which spring up and multiply, with the arts of 
society, and with the luxuries pf mankind : the 
imbecility of men in every situation of human 
nature, with regard to their moral and religious 
obligations ; the weakness of those who find 
temptations every where around them ; of those 
who, even in resisting temptations, have perpe- 
tual struggles to maintain ; and of those whom 
successive temptations overwhelm with every 
aggravation of guilt and ruin : the probation, 
the discipline, the penitence, " the washing of 
regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy 
Ghost*," which Christianity, adapting itself to 
fbe state of our minds, universally prescribes and 

* Titus iii. 5, 



240 



THE DOCTRINE 



SER. 8* 



requires : and the visible characters of the moral 
government of God, impressed on the whole 
series of external events— are facts in the state 
of the world, which hold out to us irresistible 
demonstrations, that the original fall was the fall 
of the human race; and that guilt and depravity 
are in every age, since the first transgression, 
universal on the earth. 

The characters of individuals are not the same, 
nor the vices which prevail in different situa- 
tions ; nor their progress, nor their peculiar cir- 
cumstances, nor their aggravations, nor the enor- 
mity which we ascribe to them. We are ac- 
customed to estimate, as well as to distinguish, 
the different degrees of depravity. We can per- 
ceive sins and infirmities, which are mixed with 
many contrary dispositions or intentions. We 
see vice in its dawn, and vice in its progress; 
sins committed from ignorance, surprise, or im- 
becility ; and crimes which are the effects of de- 
liberate contrivance or design; sinners falling 
into early or into great transgressions, and trem- 
bling under the reproaches of their own minds ; 
and sinners hardened against every good im- 



SER. 8. 



OF GRACE. 



241 



pression, " filling up the measure of their ini- 
quities." 

But whatever the degrees of individual de- 
pravity are, it is impossible not to perceive in 
all these different views of human life, the in- 
separable characters of the first apostacy. " By 
one man's disobedience, the many* were made 
sinners." Wherever men have been, ff has sin 
abounded and different as its progress and its 
aspects are, its living and indelible memorials 
are in every land, and are transmitted from age 
to age. 

Men who are guided by the spirit of the 
world, do not admit either the general guilt, or 
the general depravation, which Christianity af- 
firms, and experience demonstrates; although 
the steady resolution with which they resist eve- 
ry admonition from religion, contrary to their 
ruling passions, is by itself a proof of their re- 
lation to the first transgressor. But if we 
turn to him who has been effectually roused to 
repentance by the awe of God ; the fact which 
I have stated (for it is as much a fact as a. 
doctrine) will be found to come home to his 

f 91 vohxcu * Rom. v. 19. 



\ 

THE DOCTRINE 



SER. 8. 



conscience, " in demonstration of the Spirit and 
of power." The consciousness of the personal 
guilt, of which he repents before God, with 
deep humiliation, and with bitter regrets, is ac- 
companied with a clear perception of the effects 
of sin on the conditions of mankind • and of its 
unhappy influence or dominion in the situations 
of human life, within his sphere of observation. 
The monuments of the original apostacy, though 
the spirit of the world disguises them under spe- 
cious names, and varnishes them by artificial sys- 
tems, make a deep impression on his mind, in 
the hour of prayer and penitence; while he 
thinks, with awful conviction, of " the wrath 
of God revealed from heaven against all the un- 
godliness and unrighteousness of men*'." 

If we rehearse the assertion of this text, to him 
who is conscious of this state of mind, and if he 
relies on it as a fact, he hears it, as the signal of 
" life from the dead." fif Where sin abounded, 
grace did much more abound f: Not merely the 
forbearance of punishment, but " the grace" 
which effectually saves the guilty, and restores 



* Romans i. 18. 



SER. 8. OF GRACE. 243 

them : not " grace" commensurate to one great 
offence, or to the sins of many individuals ; but 
" grace" from the Gqd of heaven, to " the chief 
of sinners" on the earth : " Grace," which em- 
braces, with tlie same effect, sinners of the first, 
and sinners of the latest age : " Grace," con- 
veyed by means, wliich are completely effectual 
for the regeneration of men, and for the glory 
of God : " Grace," which repairs the effects of 
the first man's disobedience on the earth, by 
means pf the incarnation and obedience of " the 
only begotten of the Father ;" whom " God set 
forth to be a propitiation through faith in his 
blood # ;" and who suffers and dies in the flesh, 
to offer a propitiatory sacrifice for our fallen 
face. 

The apostle illustrates " Grace as abounding 
much more than sin, by representing the fall 
of the world as the result of one offence, and 
" the grace" which repairs the ruins of the fall, 
as extending to the transgressions of men from, 
age to age. " The judgment was by one to 
condemnation; but the free gift is of many of- 



# Romans iii. 25, 

Q SI 



244 



THE DOCTRINE 



SER. 8* 



fences unto justification **" And we must per- 
ceive, that when the sources and the means of 
our salvation are placed together, the contrast of 
" grace" to " sin," goes far beyond even this 
assertion. 

The depravity of mankind is transmitted from 
one generation to another. Guilt and impeni- 
tence go hand in hand. But " the father of 
mercies, the God of all comfort f," thinks with 
compassion and with love of his fallen crea- 
tures, though they are at enmity with him. 
u He lays their help on one mighty to save J:' 
" He spares not his own son, but delivers him 
up for us all ft The only begotten of the Fa- 
ther, full of grace and truths," at his com- 
mand, humbles himself, and becomes a man on 
the earth; "A man of sorrows |);" A man " obe- 
dient unto death, even the death of the cross** ;" 
A man "smitten of God and afflicted ft," for 
" the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all 

* Rom. v. 16. f 2 Cor. i. 3. 

^ Psalm lxxxix. 19. Isaiah lxiii. 1. § Rom. viii. 32. 
f St John i. 14. II Isaiah liii. 3. 

** Phil. ii. 8. ft Isaiah liii. 3. 

Isaiah liii. 6. 



SER. 8. 



OF GRACE* 



245 



A man "offering himself without spot unto God*,** 
that " we might have redemption through his 
blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to 
the riches of his grace*)*." The Son of God, 
in the form of man, expires in torment, that he 
may " redeem us from the curse J" denounced 
against transgressors, and make atonement to 
God for us all. 

The reign of grace on earth Was then esta- 
blished, when the great Redeemer " cried with a 
loud voice §" oti the cross, " It is finished, and 
bowed his head, and gave up the ghost ^f." 
When " he was raised from the dead* to die no 
more ||;" his triumph was complete, and the 
powers of sin and death were for ever vanquish- 
ed. " The ground was cursed" at first, " for 
the sake of man ## ;" and when Christ "made his 
soul an offering for sin," the earth trembled, and 
the rocks were rent beside himff. But when he 
was " declared to be the Son of God with power," 



* Heb. ix. 14. 
t Gallat. iii. 13. 
f St John xix. 30. 
** Gen. iii. 17. 



f Ephes. i. 7. 

§ Matth. xxvii. 50, 

U Rom. vi. 9- 

ft Matth. xxvii. 51. 



246 THE DOCTRINE SER. 8. 

by his resurrection from the dead, it was no 
more " the curse" which he proclaimed to the 
world : It was " the grace" and blessing of 
the everlasting God ; " peace on earth, and 
good will to men*;" "peace" to sinners, " re- 
deemed unto God," and returning to him ; arid 
" good will," where " sin abounded." How in- 
finitely interesting and impressive, is the doctrine 
of " grace," promulgated from the cross of 
Christ ! 

Did we hear for the first time, tc that God 
was in Christ reconciling the world unto him- 
self, not imputing their trespasses unto them ;" 
and " that he hath made him to be sin for us^ 
who knew no sin, that we might be made the 
righteousness of God in him f ;" we might well 
contemplate with astonishment and awe, events 
so important, and yet so far above our appre- 
hension. But our ideas of H grace abounding 
more than sin," rise higher, in proportion to 6ur 
earnest and habitual attention to the subject^ 
when we find, in these unparalleled events, the 



* Luke iii 14. 



f 2 Cor. v. 19. 2h 



SEU. 8. OF GRACE. 247 

doctrine of salvation and of the remission of 
sins, published for the faith of all nations ; and 
the efficacy of the great propitiatory sacrifice, ex- 
tending back to the first moment, from which 
" sin abounded," and reaching forward to the 
latest trace, and to the last abode of sin on earth. 
" O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom 
and knowledge of God ! how unsearchable are 
his judgments ! — For who hath known the 
mind of the Lord ? or who hath been his coun- 
sellor ? or who hath first given to him ? — For 
of him, and through him, and to him are all 
things ; to whom be glory for ever, Amen # ." 

But there is another view of "grace," in con- 
trast with guilt and depravity ; Christ died for 
sinners : and God raised him from the dead, " and 
exalted him at his right hand, a prince and a sa- 
viour, to give repentance to Israel, and forgive- 
ness of sins t ;" to dispense the pardon for which 
he shed his blood, and to sanctify those " who 
come to God by him," for the glory of his 
grace, and for " the day of redemption," 

* Rom, xi. 33 — 35, | Acts v. 31, 



248 



THE DOCTEINE 



SER. 8. 



Christianity represents the remission of sins 
through the blood of atonement, as inseparably 
conjoined and united, in those who receive it, to 
purity of principle and of conduct, which the 
Scriptures express by "holiness, without which 
110 man shall see the Lord Were it possible 
to imagine the contrary supposition^ it would 
make Christ " the minister of sin :" And this the 
apostle Paul has expressly stated, in his address 
to the Gallatians on the subject. " If while we 
seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also 
are found sinners^ is therefore Christ the minis- 
ter of sin? God forbid f." The genuine doc- 
trine of the gospel represents purity of mind, and 
holiness of life, as essential characters of those 
" who believe to the saving of their souls |" 
without which, they would neither be at peace 
with themselves^ nor have any sound reason to 
conclude, that they are in peace with God. 

But, on the other hand, as all our talents and 
endowments are derived from God, and " every 
good and perfect gift cometh down from him J f 

* Heb. xin 14. | Gallat; ii. 17* 

J James i. 1 7* 



SfcR. 8. 



OF GRACE. 



249 



Christianity ascribes to " the grace which brings 
"salvation" to the world, and to " the promise of 
the Father" through the intercession of Christ, 
" to give the Holy Spirit to them who ask him/' 
all the sanctification of men : their first impres- 
sions of godliness and duty ; their first conver- 
sion from sin to God ; and all their progress in 
good works and patience. " By the grace of 
God," said the apostle Paul, " I am what I am : 
and his grace, which was bestowed upon me, was 
not in vain ; but I laboured more abundantly 
than all the apostles ; yet not I, but the grace of 
God which was with me*" 

We contemplate, with peculiar emotion, " the 
grace" of Christ, when, in the language of the 
New Testament, he "seeksf a sinner, to save 
him," who is far from God : " The grace" 
which imperceptibly works within him> and, by 
external means suited to his peculiar temper, 
gradually moulds his heart to penitence and 
prayer : " The grace" which, by considerations 
adapted to his character, persuades him to em- 



* 1 Cor. xv, 10. 



f Luke xix* 10. 



250 



THE DOCTRINE 



SER. 8; 



brace with ardour the salvation of God ; which 
invigorates the good intentions of his mind, and 
which purifies his motives and affections : The 
grace which determines him to rest his happi- 
ness on his faith and hopes, and on his fidelity 
to God and men ; which effectually forms with- 
in him " the spirit of power, and of love, and of 
a sound mind*;" which teaches him " the prayer 
of faith," and " fills him with peace and joy in 
believing:" "The grace" which sends him 
with earnest solicitude, to every duty, and which 
" thoroughly furnishes him for every good 
work f " The grace" which, " in the fulness 
of the blessing of the gospel of peace," " pours 
out the Spirit of God" to dwell within him. 

" The reign of grace f" destroys for ever the 
dominion of sin. Like the fall of the world, it 
has many aspects in human characters : but it is 
" the great salvation of God" on the earth. 
" The children of God," every one in his own 
place, and by means adapted to his peculiar situa- 
tion, "are gathered together in one J," "from the 



* 2 Tim. i. 7. 
% St John xi. 52. 



f Rom. v. 23. 



SER. 8. 



OF GRACE. 



251 



east and from the west, and from the north, and 
from -the south." The multitude of men, re- 
deemed unto God from guilt and sin, are mo- 
numents in every land, of the grace" which 
renovates the world; of u peace in heaven # " 
and earth, and " glory in the highest." 

We shall find another view of " grace abound- 
ing more than sin," by considering, 

II. The miseries of human life. 

The calamities of men began with the origi- 
nal apostacy from God. In Adam's paradise, 
the earth brought forth, without culture, her most 
precious fruits. Every living creature obeyed 
his call, and added to his store of blessings ; and 
neither care, nor sufferings, nor debility, nor de- 
cay, were permitted to approach him. 

The fall of man from innocence reversed the 
condition, and destroyed the order of the world. 
From that moment, he possessed a paradise no 
more. He was driven into a wilderness f ; 
doomed " to eat his bread, in the sweat of his 
face %f and " in sorrow were his children 

* Luke xix. 38. f Gen. iii. 24. 

% Gen. iii, 19. 



252 



THE DOCTRINE 



SER. 8e 



born # ." All nature around him became, from 
that time, full of toil, and strife, and pain, and 
disease, and sorrow ; and " the whole creation 
groaned together f." 

The calamities of human life justify this re- 
presentation of our fallen state. They have 
spread and multiplied from the first transgressor, 
through all the ages and generations of the 
world. The calamities which afflict our bodies, 
their weakness or their wants, their diseases or 
their* decay; the calamities which spring up 
from the contending interests, and from the 
boisterous or malignant passions of the world ; 
the calamities which vice creates wherever it 
predominates* or which vice transmits from man 
to man ; the calamities which torment us by 
means of our affections, and the regrets connec- 
ted with every earthly satisfaction ; the clouds 
which hover around every human dwelling ; 
" the keepers of the house who tremble ; the 
mourners who go about the streets J;" and 
* the heart which knows its own bitterness || 

* Gen. iii. 16. f Rom* viii. 2& 

X Eccles. xi. 3. 5. JJ Prov. xiv. 10, 



SER. 8. 



OF GRACE. 



253 



which shuts out the light of day, and resigns it- 
self to darkness or despair; are all impressive 
and perpetual memorials, of the original curse 
on the fall of man : indelible memorials, of the 
effects of sin on the condition of sinners ; and 
of the calamities of sinful men, amidst all the 
delusions of a fallen world. 

I am not exaggerating the calamities of man- 
kind ; though it is obvious that they have many 
diiferent aspects in the lot of individuals. One 
man is pressed down by afflictions, frpm his 
birth to his grave ; while the sufferings of ano- 
ther are, in comparispn, scarcely to be discerned, 
and are compensated by many satisfactions. But 
every situation of human life has its share of the 
miseries, which sin has brought into the world ; 
and though "a man live many years, and rejoice 
in them all," he has good reason " to remember 
(or to prepare himself for) the days of dark- 
ness^ lest they should be many Wherever we 
trace the lineaments of the first transgressor, we 
find sorrows and calamities universally entailed 
en his descendants. 

Those who do not take their views of life 

* Eccles. xi. 8. 



254 THE DOCTRINE SER, 8. 

from religion, and who imagine human nature 
to have been always what it is, do not see the 
fall of man in his calamities. When they surfer, 
they seek their consolations from the sensible 
world, and have no reliance on the doctrine, 
which affirms " the grace' 5 of God " to abound'' 
on earth, yet more than the miseries of men. 

We must turn to those who have learned, both 
from religion and experience, to perceive what 
sin has done to bring sorrows on the earth, in 
order to find a proper estimate of " grace a- 
bounding more." They know and feel, that 
" the grace," which Christianity reveals for the 
salvation of men, holds out the true resources of 
the miserable, and the only certain antidotes, to 
the calamities of the human race. 

It was affirmed by the prophet Isaiah, to be 
the leading object of the Messiah, " to appoint 
unto them that mourn in Zion— Beauty for 
ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the gar- 
ment of praise for the spirit of heaviness # 
And a similar description, recorded by the prp- 
phetf, was employed by the Lord himself, to 



* Isaiah Ixi. 3» 



f Isaiah Ixjj, 1* 2< 



SEil. 8. 



OF GRACE. 



255 



give the first impression of the gospel, when he 
began to preach in the synagogue of Nazareth. 
" The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he 
hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the 
poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-heart- 
ed, to preach deliverance to the captives, and re- 
covering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty 
them that are bruised ; to preach the acceptable 
year of the Lord. This day is this Scripture 
fulfilled in your ears*." 

Christianity does not profess to release us from 
calamities in the present world ; for probation, 
and probationary sufferings, are become insepa- 
rable from the degenerate state of human nature. 
But Christianity professes to convert our calami- 
ties into salutary discipline. It professes to sus- 
tain our courage, and to support us under them. 
It professes to alleviate their pressure or severity. 
It professes to render them the means of our 
gradual release from " the bondage of cor- 
ruption," and of our progress in " the glorious 
liberty of the children of Gopl." It professes 
to compensate, by the most permanent satisfac- 
tions, whatsoever we are required to suffer. If 



* Luke iv. 18. 19. 2 J. 



256 



THE DOCTRINE 



SER. $, 



these ends are effectually attained, nothing can, 
be more certain, than that " the grace" of God 
" abounds much more," than either miseries or 
sin. 

We can follow the contrast of M grace" to 
sorrow, in the experience of those who know 
what vital religion is, and who " have seen the 
salvation of God," 

We have many striking opportunities, in com? 
mon life, of observing " the grace" of God to a 
sinful man, when he effectually employs the dis- 
cipline of calamities, to turn, or to change the dis- 
positions of his heart ; to give him his first, or 
his strongest impressions of godliness and pun* 
ty, of fidelity in his personal duties, or of the 
hope of salvation at last; to humble his passions, 
to check his presumption, or to subdue his pride ; 
to rouse him into ardour, or to send him to 
good works with patience ; to lead him, by a sure 
but imperceptible progress, from the sorrows of 
repentance, to " the peace of God, which passeth 
all understanding." It is deeply interesting to a 
good man, to recollect the effects of the influ- 
ence of God on his mind, which he believes to 
have reconciled him to his bitterest cup of a£> 



SER. 8* 



OF GRACE. 



257 



fliction; to recollect the " grace" which propor- 
tions his courage to his lot, his hopes to his 
sufferings, his faith to the discipline appointed 
him ; the " grace" which sanctifies the time of 
suffering, for the hour of temptation, the pressure 
of afflictions, for the situations in which his fide- 
lity is severely tried, the progress and the dura- 
tion of his present calamities, for the glories of 
9 the latter day." 

Who shall say, that he has suffered in vain, 
or that he suffers without consolation, who shall 
find his place at last among the sons of God ? 
The time is not distant, when the progress of 
H grace" on earth, and its triumph over every 
human calamity, shall be completed. There 
shall then be sin no more ; the probation of 
man shall then be finished : miseries shall cease 
for ever among the sons of light : and grace 
shall reign, where no sorrow is. 

Were the influence of vital religion universal 
on the earth, its effects on the situations of man- 
kind would be universal also. Calamities would 
everywhere be converted into blessings \ and the 
universal regeneration of the world would every- 
where begin. The description of the prophet 

R 



258 



THE DOCTRINE 



SEIt. 8, 



would be effectually realised : " The child might 
play on the hole of the a§p," or " put his hand 
on the cockatrice den," where there would be 
nothing " to hurt or to destroy V 

It is delightful to believe, that such glorious 
events are in any form or degree approaching, 
and that the reign of (i grace" shall be at last 
established. " Father, in heaven, hallowed be 
thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be 
done on earth, as it is done in heaven f." 
€t Hosanna to the Son of David : Blessed is he 
who came in the name of the I^ord He 
who was serit from heaven i{ for salvation to the 
ends of the earth || :" He who came " to heal 
the broken hearted f and " to comfort all who 
mourn ^[." 

Another illustration of the doctrine of the 
text may be suggested, by considering, 

III. The mortality of mankind. 

Mortality is not an original attribute of hu- 
man nature. Pure when he proceeded from his 
Maker's hand, man was formed to live for ever. 



* Isaiah xi. 8. 9. 
% Matth. xxi. 9. 
§ Luke iv. 18. 



t Matth. vi. £. 1Q. 
|| Acts xiii. 47. 
Isaiah Ixi. %. 



SEK. 8. PF GRACE. $259 

Whatever change in the state of his being he 
might have experienced, from the progress of 
perfect virtue and happiness among the sons of 
God, as Jong as he preserved his innocence, he 
was beyond the reach of death. 

We are taught by the gospel, to ascribe to sin, 
which is the source of all our other calamities, the 
introduction of mortality also among mankind. 
" By one man sin entered into the world, and 
death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, 
for that all have sinned.— ^-Death reigned from A- 
dam to Moses, even qver them who had not sin- 
ned after the similitude of Adam's transgres- 
sion * :" And from age to age, in every period 
and condition of human life, it is the inseparable 
and irrevocable destiny of man, 

Religion holds out tq us no exemption from 
the general law, by which " it is appointed unto 
men once to die f." But it is the attribute of 
God to bring light from darkness, our restora- 
tion from our fall, consolation from the grave, 
and life from the dead. " Sin hath reigned un- 
to death f and the reign of grace" begins with 

* Romans v. 12. H. f Heb. ix. &fJ 

R % 



260 THE DOCTRINE SER. 8. 

the triumph of the Son of God, over death and 
sin. 

" God sent his only begotten Son into the 
world" to die, ff that we might live through 
him*:" To die, " that, through death, he might 
destroy him who had the power of death ; and 
deliver them who through fear of death were 
all their lifetime subject to bondage f :" To die, 
that " God might raise him up, because it was 
not possible that death could hold him % :" To 
die, that he might rise from the dead, as a con- 
queror, " leading captivity captive," and might 
be " the first fruits of them who sleep :" To 
die, that he might become the resurrection and 
the life," to those who believe in him; and 
might sanctify the grave for them, as a place of 
rest and peace, till " the day of their redemp- 
tion" comes. 

His resurrection is the great fact on which 
the gospel rests its authority, and from which 
we derive our most permanent consolations. We 
know " that it is not a thing incredible that God 

* 1 John iv. 9. f Hcb. ii. 14. 15, 

| Acts ii* 24. 



SER. 8. 



OF GRACE. 



261 



should raise the dead," or that " the dead in 
Christ" should be destined to live with him after 
the general resurrection ; and are certain that the 
resurrection of Christ is supported by evidence, 
such as we are accustomed to receive with confi- 
dence in every other case ; and such as we ac- 
knowledge to be sufficient to govern our con- 
duct, in the most interesting concerns of the pre* 
sent life. 

What an important fact is the resurrection of 
the Lord, in the reign of " grace !" " If by one 
man's offence, death reigned by one; much more, 
they which receive abundance of grace, and of 
the gift of righteousness, shall reign in life, by 
one Jesus Christ *." 

" Grace" reigns; for they who believe and 
obey the gospel are certain of their victory over 
death, since Christ has risen from the dead. 
Though " the dust returns to the earth as it was, 
their spirits return to God who gave them f :" 
Their dust itself is precious, and " Christ shall 
raise it up at the last day J." 

* Rom. v. 17. t Eccles. xii. 7« 

t St John vi. 39. 



252 THE DOCTRINE SEtl. 8- 

H Grace'* reigris> to assure us Concerning 
" those Who are asleep" in Christ, that they are 
iiot lost to m, or to themselves 5 that they sleep 
in peace ; that because Christ has risen from the 
dead, they shall rise again ; that " in their flesh 
they shall see God f and that, if we are " fol- 
lowers of them," we shall> in due time> find out- 
place among them. 

" Grace" reigns, to deliver us from the fear of 
death ; and to teach us how to live, that we may 
learn how to die : To tell us of the grave, that 
the Lord was there : To tell us of the resurrec- 
tion, that " the Lord is risen indeed," and that 
" the dead in Christ" shall rise together, to live 
with him ; that not one of them " shall perish;'* 
and that they shall see with their eyes " the 
great salvation of God:" To tell us of the glory 
of " the first resurrection," and of " the general 
assembly and church of the first born," " whose 
names are written in heaven." 

" Grace" reigns \ 11 and blessed are the dead 
who die in the Lord, from henceforth : yea, saith 
the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours j 
and their works do follow them 



» Rev. xiv. 1-3, 



SEft. S. 



OF GRACE. 



263 



The reign of " grace" is at last completely es- 
tablished ; for the Son of God, " the first begot- 
ten of the dead*/' looks down from heaven, 
and says to his disciples in the world* " Fear 
not ; I am the first and the last ; I am he that 
liveth, and Was dead ; and behold I am alive for 
evermore, Amen ; and have the keys of hell and 
deatht." 

"Sin has abounded" on the earth, and "death 
by sin:*' But "grace much more abounds 
since we are sure that the resurrection of the 
Lord is the pledge from heaven, that they shall 
rise again, whom he has redeemed unto God, 
" Sin has reigned unto death ; but grace reigns 
through righteousness unto eternal life* by Jesus 
Christ our Lord J." " Death will at last be 
swallowed up in victory ||:" And* if we are 
Christ's, we are certain, that there is a place 
" prepared for us" among the sons of light, 
where we have the promise of the everlasting 
God, that " there shall be no more death" for 
ever. 



* Rev. i. 5. 
% Rom, v. 21. 



f Rev. i. 17. 18. 
II 1 Cor, xv. 54-, 



264 



THE DOCTRINE 



SEIt. 8* 



We shall have another view of " grace a- 
bounding more than sin," if we consider, 

IV. The final perdition, which is represented 
in the Scriptures, as the last consequence of the 
fall of man. 

Every idea which we can form of the moral 
government of God, or of the general doctrine 
of rewards and punishments asserted in the 
gospel, leads us to believe, that the final pu- 
nishment of obstinate guilt must far exceed the 
unequal allotment of miseries, experienced in 
the present life; and therefore supposes an ex- 
istence after death, in which every impenitent 
man shall suffer the consequences of his obdu* 
rate depravity, 

Christianity affirms this event to be the cer= 
tain result of the probation, under which man- 
kind are placed, in the present life; and has 
given us the most minute and explicit infor- 
mation with regard to it. It represents the 
whole multitude of wicked and impenitent men 
raised from their graves, after the resurrection 
of "the dead in Christ;" not to enjoy ano- 
ther life, or to experience a new probation ; but 



<SER* 8. 



OF GRACE. 



265 



to stand " before the judgment seat of Christ/* 
where every individual is to receive a final and ir- 
revocable sentence, according to "the deeds done 
in the body." It represents the punishment to 
be inflicted on them, by the last sentence of the 
" Judge of all," as commensurate to the guilt of 
obstinate and final apostacy from the eternal 
God ; and affirms, that they are doomed to suffer 
for " ever the anguish of unquenchable fire*;" 
associated with all the apostate spirits, who have 
persisted in their rebellion against their maker. 

" This is the second death f ." It was com- 
prehended in the original sentence, which de- 
nounced death on the apostacy of man, as well 
as the mortality of the body. We are led di- 
rectly to this conclusion, by the contrast which 
the apostle has stated betwixt death, as the pu- 
nishment of sin, and " eternal life," as the result 
of the grace of God by Christ. " The wages 
of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life, 
through Jesus Christ our Lord It is expressed 
in language still more precise, when the first re- 



* Matth. iii. 12. 
| Rom. vi. 23. 



f Rev. xxi. 8» 



266 



THE DOCTRINE 



SER* 8* 



surrection is stated in contrast with the second 
death. " Blessed and holy is he that hath part 
in the first resurrection; on such the second 
death hath no power*." It is represented in 
the most striking light, when after a minute de- 
scription of " the judgment of the great day/' 
and of the sentence to be then pronounced on 
" every man, according to his works," the last pu- 
nishment of obstinate impenitence " in the lake 
which burneth with fire and brimstone," (the 
usual emblems of future punishment in the 
New Testament) is expressly affirmed to be " the 
second death :" " Death and hell were cast 
into the lake of fire : This is the second death : 
And whosoever was not found written in the 
book of life was cast into the lake of firef.'* 
" The fearful, and unbelieving, and the abomi- 
nable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and 
sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have 
their part in the lake which burneth with fire 
and brimstone : which is the second death 

* Rev. xx. 6. t Rev. xx. 12-*-l5 s 

J Rev. xxi, 8* 



3 Eli. 8i 



OF GRACE. 



267 



The description of apostac}', terminating in 
eternal punishment^ requires but to be mention- 
ed, to awaken every idea of horror. How im- 
portant is it, that men should have warning gi- 
ven them of that which is the inevitable conse- 
quence of their depravity, "except they repent!" 
How infinitely important to them, that the 
means should be placed within their reach, " to 
fly from wrath to come!" 

" The grace of God, which bringeth salvation, 
has appeared unto all men;" " that whosoever 
believeth on the Son of God, might not perish, 
but might have everlasting life." On the other 
hand, nothing can be more certain, than that for 
those who deliberately persist in their impeni- 
tence, and " reject the counsel of God against 
themselves," " there remaineth no more sacrifice 
for sin." With whatever degree of insensibility, 
" they bear their iniquity" till they die, they have 
every thing awful to apprehend, in " the second 
death." 

While we have this impression on our minds, 
how exquisitely consoling is it to know, " that 
grace abounds much more than sin," in those who 



263 



THE DOCTRINE 



SER. S. 



sincerely believe and obey the gospel! And that 
being sanctified by the faith of the gospel, they 
have " good," or well-founded, " hope through 
grace," that " they shall have their part in the first 
resurrection," that " over them the second death 
may have no power." 

Think, my brethren, with delight and joy^ 
of " grace reigning," by the dominion of the 
Son of God, that they who believe on him 
" may not be hurt by the second death ;" that 
they may be completely separated from the 
apostacy, and from the apostate spirits; that 
they may not only be effectually shielded at last 
from " the wrath to come," but raised to the 
participation of the glory of Sons of God ; when 
God creates for them " new heavens and a new 
earth*," in which there can be no apostacy, or 
misery, or curse, or death, for ever. 

Think of " the grace" which assembles to- 
gether, ff with everlasting joy," a " multitude 
which no man can number, of all nations, and 
kindreds, and people, and tongues, before the 



• 2 Peter iii. 13* 



SER. 8, 



OF GRACE. 



269 



throne, and before the Lamb*;" and of the 
" grace," which reigns through eternal ages 
among that multitude, of which every indi- 
vidual is perfect in goodness, perfect in happi- 
ness, perfect in love, " perfect and complete in 
all the will of God," " to the glory of God the 
Father f." 

The reign of " grace" is the triumph of the 
Son of God: It is the destruction of sin, and of 
Satan's empire; it is the kingdom of God, which 
is established for ever ; the final regeneration of 
the Sons of God, when " the first heaven and 
the first earth shall have passed away £," " and 
God shall be all in all§." 

While we dwell with delight on these differ- 
ent views of H grace abounding more than sin," 
it is impossible to forget the miseries of those, 
who deliberately attach both their satisfactions 
and their lot, to the old creation, and to the 
reign of sin. 

Would to God it were possible to convince 
them of the real misery in which they live; for 

* Rev. vii. 9. f Philip, ii. 1 L 

X Rev. xxi. t. § 1 Cor, xv. 28. 



THE DOCTRINE 



SER, 8, 



miserable they are, amidst all the delusions of 
this world ; or to persuade them of the certain-? 
ty of the awful perdition before them, if " they 
shall die in their sins." But it is of the last im- 
portance to remind them, that they have still 
"space to repent;" and that by the grace of 
God, we are required both to encourage, an4 
to beseech them, in the name of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, " to be reconciled unto God ;" to turn 
and to repent, " that they may obtain mercy," 
before the day of probation expires, and that 
" the free gift may come on them also, to justi- 
fication, and" eternal " life # ." 

But before I conclude, I must beseech those* 
who sincerely believe and obey the gospel, to 
consider, with the most earnest attention, an a- 
postolical admonition, intimately connected with 
every part of the doctrine, which I have endea- 
voured to illustrate; and which goes deep in- 
to the spirit and power of " the gospel of the 
grace of God." 

" What shall we say then," says the apostle, 
after having asserted the doctrine of this text ? 



I Rom. v. 18. 



OF GRACE. 



" Shall we continue in sin, that grace may a- 
bound? God forbid. How shall we who are 
dead to sin, live any longer therein? Christ, 
raised from the dead, dieth no more : Likewise 
reckon ye yourselves, to be dead indeed unto 
sin, but alive unto God, through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. — For the wages of sin is death, but 
the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus 
Christ our Lord*." 



f Rom. vi. 1. 2. 0. Hi 23. 



SERMON IX. 

ON THE 

CONDUCT OF PROVIDENCE TO GOOD MEN. 



no mans viii. 28. 

" We know that all things work together for 
good to them that love God ; to them who are 
the called according to his purpose" 

This text is introduced, in connexion with 
some of the most animated descriptions in the 
New Testament, of the views, and of the state 
of mind, peculiar to those who sincerely em- 
brace Christianity; and who are described, at the 
beginning of this chapter, as men " who are in 
Christ Jesus, and who walk not after the flesh, 
but after the Spirit." It expresses, in direct and 
unqualified terms, the universal subserviency of 
the events of this life, under the influence of 
God, to all their essential and permanent inte? 



SEll. 9. THE CONDUCT OF QOT> } &C 273 

rests ; and it affirms that their reliance on this 
fact, proceeds, not only from a full persuasion, 
but from an intimate knowledge of its certainty. 

I am, in discoursing on the text, to illustrate 
the sources, from which good men derive their 
knowledge on this subject. 

" They know that all things work together 
for good, to them who love God :" 

1. From the declared intentions of God with 
regard to those " who love him." 

2. From their attention to the minute histpry 
and progress of human life. And, 

3. From their personal experience of the con- 
duct of Providence. 

I observe, 

I. That good men know, with certainty, the 
subserviency of the events of this life to their per- 
manent interests, from the declared intentions of 
God with regard to those <c who love him.'* 

This is the statement given by the apostle in 
the section from which this text is taken. He 
first describes those to whom the assertion is ap- 
plied, as men H who love God, and who are the 
called according to his purpose;" and then he 
affirms that the circumstances of their progress to 

s 



£74 THE CONDUCT OF GOD SER. 9. 

the kingdom of heaven, are inseparably united, by 
the wisdom and power of God, till their proba- 
tion is finished, and their salvation is complete*." 
While he represents the en tire, security of " the 
many brethren," among whom Christ is the 
"first born," with regard to all their interests in 
this world, and in the world to come, and every 
step they advance, as leading directly to another; 
he derives their security, from the original inten- 
tions of God for their advantage, and from the 
perpetual exercise of his providence and grace, 
to render the events of this life the means of 
promoting them. 

When this doctrine is applied to the assertion 
of the text, restricted, as it is, to those " who 
love God," it is addressed directly to their per- 
sonal feelings. Regulated by him, every cir- 
cumstance in their lot must answer his inten- 
tions. Every event which they experience, what- 
ever its external aspect is^ and whether it shall, 
at the moment when it happens, produce satis- 
factions or afflictions, must ultimately lead to 
the end which is at last to be attained. 



* Romans viii. 29« 30. 



SEIi. 9. TO GOOD MEN. .375 

¥i It is their Father's good pleasure to give 
them the kingdom of heaven f and they are cer- 
tain, that it is his gracious intention to render 
their salvation complete, by means of the disci- 
pline and the duties, the advantages and the ta- 
lents, the trials and the temptations, the prospe- 
rity and the adversities of this life; by means of 
the ordinances of religion, and the dispensations 
of Providence ; continued with such circumstan- 
ces and variations, as their different tempers and 
situations require, till their probation attains its 
end, and they are permitted to find their passage, 
through death, to the happiness of tlie invisible 
world. 

They are sometimes required to suffer long, 
and often to experience severe disappointments. 
I3ut while they know the end to be secured, 
they know that their heaviest trials are selected 
by the wisdom of God. They ought therefore 
to believe, that they are the means best adapted 
to their peculiar characters ; and that, by the 
sorrows which they create, by the affections 
which they excite, or by the prayer which they 
suggest, he sanctifies their conditions, and purifies 
their hearts, or revives their ardour, or checks 

c o 



£76 THE CONDUCT OF GOD SER. 9. 

their passions, or confirms the faith which is 
not strong, or the faith which has been shaken 
or endangered. They have the best reasons to 
be assured of the final result of every dispensa- 
tion, in which their interests are involved ; and 
(as I shall afterwards shew) learn to perceive, in 
the events which they experience, the means by 
which it is promoted. Their reliance on the 
intentions of God, sheds a light around the dark- 
est passages of human life ; and enables them, 
even from the gloom of the house of mourning, 
to discern the kindness which never deserts them, 
and to give thanks to the God of their salvation. 
" If God be for us," says the apostle Paul, 
" who can be against us ? He who spared not 
his own Sod, but delivered him up for us all, 
how shall he not with him also freely give us all 
things ?— Who shall separate us from the love of 
Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecu- 
tion, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword ? 
—Nay, in all these things we are more than con- 
querors, through him that loved us. For I am 
persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor an- 
gels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things 
present, nor things to come, nor height, nor 



SER. 9. 



TO GOOD MEN. 



277 



depth, nor any other creature* shall be able to 
separate us from the love of God, which is in 
Christ Jesus our Lord 

The doctrine of this text is addressed to those 
" who love God, and who are conformed to the 
image of his Son ;" and is incapable of any 
fair construction, by which men, without prin- 
ciple or morals, can, in any instance, apply it to 
themselves. Every one will therefore perceive, 
that, to enjoy the comfort resulting from these 
illustrations of it, we must have good reason to 
believe that we possess the character to which it 
is restricted ; and must be sensible, at the same 
time, that this is equally true, with regard to 
every view which can be taken, either of the 
hopes of a Christian, or of the precious promises 
on which they depend. We must have the feel- 
ings and dispositions of religious men, before we 
can either possess their consolations, or be able 
to apply them to the situations to which they 
are directed. 

On the other hand, it is certain, that every 
man may have such an intimate knowledge of 
the state of his mind, as to be able to ascertain 
to his own satisfaction, whether "he loves God" 

* Romans viii. 31. 32.-35. — 37. 38. 39, 



£78 THE CONDUCT OF GOD SEK. 9. 

with the sincerity of the disciples of Christ; 
whether he can contemplate the intentions of 
God, with the personal confidence of religious 
men; and whether he has such an hahitual sense 
of duty and religion, as to discern* with real in- 
terest and satisfaction, the dominion and the 
wisdom of God in the vicissitudes of human 
life; and to rely on his immutable purpose and 
grace, both for their present effects, and for their 
final result and end in the kingdom of heaven. 

By pursuing the subject^ we shall find that 
every view of the conduct of Providence accords 
with the original intentions of God, and serves 
to confirm the faith of those a who love him.'* 
And therefore I observe, 

II. That good men " know, that all things 
work together for their good," from their atten- 
tion to the minute history and progress of hu- 
man life. 

We are certainly incompetent judges of that 
which is either good or best for individual men ; 
and are equally incapable of ascertaining exactly, 
the rules and the means, by which the designs of 
God are accomplished in the present world. But 
notwithstanding the limits which must bound 



SER. 9, TO GOOD MEN. £79 

our inquiries, we receive both precise and sub- 
stantial information on the subject, from the si- 
tuations of those among whom we live, when 
we have the patience necessary to form an esti- 
mate of the events which they experience, and 
to observe their remote, as well as their imme- 
diate, effects. 

There are many events in the lot of indivi- 
duals, at first considered as heavy, and even as 
hopeless, afflictions, which, in the progress of 
things, are followed by consequences, not only 
sufficient to compensate their severity, but which 
take away from them almost every appearance 
of affliction. 

In our own situations, our personal sufferings, 
the disappointment of our wishes, or events 
which bear hard on our affections, often mis- 
lead our understandings ; and render it as diffi- 
cult for us to connect our advantages with our 
calamities, as we are unwilling to perceive their 
relation to each other. But we are more dispas- 
sionate in considering the discipline which other 
men experience ; and observe both its first as- 
pect, and its distant effects, with more impartia- 
lity. Enlightened by the gospel, we follow 



280 THE CONDUCT OF GOD SER. 9* 

with our eye its influence on themselves, and on 
their families!, and on the conditions of human 
life, with which they are connected. As specta- 
tors, we can trace its remote consequences to 
their cause, with as much certainty as its imme- 
diate effects; and perceive more readily than 
from our own experience, that the hest advanta- 
ges which they attain, are often visibly marked 
as the result of their heaviest calamities. 

The most striking examples which can be 
given to illustrate this doctrine* are perhaps those 
which are suggested by the ravages of death, in 
situations, in which much is supposed to have 
depended on the lives of those who are taken 
away. There are no events more severely felt 
at the time when they occur, and none* of which 
the apparent tendency is more unfavourable to 
those who are chiefly interested. On the other 
hand, there are no calamities, which the provi- 
dence of God more frequently renders the means 
of promoting the permanent interests of those 
who suffer from them, or which, by their con- 
sequences, ought to be considered as more im- 
pressive demonstrations of the truth of the doc- 
trine in this text* 



SElt. & 



TO GOOD MEN. 



281 



The death of good men, and the death of 
those who have neither worth nor character, 
may, in certain circumstances, equally afford us 
examples to illustrate this assertion. Both may 
materially affect the situation of individuals, and 
excite their strongest feelings. Their effects are 
equally subject to the wisdom and providence of 
God-; and are very often indeed, extremely dif- 
ferent from their apparent tendency. 

When a good man dies, it is impossible that 
those, who are immediately connected with him, 
should not feel severely. But the calamity which 
his death occasions, is peculiarly aggravated, if 
he is the father of a family, or has many friend- 
less or helpless beings, who depend on his acti- 
vity or his beneficence ; and if he is taken from 
the world in the vigour of his life, and in the 
midst of his usefulness, while he is yet capable 
of the most active employments. The calamity 
is extremely heightened, if his family are left or- 
phans in the world, with no external resources 
or protection on which they can rely. 

There are few events which we can observe 
around us, of which the first aspect is darker, or 
more depressing. Every department of duty 



282 THE CONDUCT OF GOV SER. & 

or usefulness, which we connect with him who 
is taken away, adds to our impression of the ca- 
lamity, which his death occasions, and to the 
gloom which covers it. 

On the other hand, we are soon convinced 
by observation, how remote our first conclusions 
are, from the real consequences of such an event. 
If a man dies, full of faith and of good works, 
we can have no regrets on his own account; 
and I have shewn, in a former discourse*, in 
how many ways the providence of God secures 
to the families of worthy men, both the means 
and the protection which lead them on to pros- 
perity. The only fact to which I request your 
attention at present, and which I mention from 
its connexion with other facts suggested by the 
subject before us, is, that the untimely death of 
a good man, and the unprotected state of his 
family, the circumstances which apparently con- 
stitute the greatest part of their calamity, are pre- 
cisely the circumstances, which the providence 
of God most commonly selects, to secure to them 
the help and attention which they require, in 



* Sermon VII. 



SKR. 9- 



TO GOOD MEN. 



283 



their progress to active life. " A Father of the 
fatherless, and a Judge of the widows, is God 
in his holy habitation V By his blessing, the 
children of a faithful man attain situations after 
his decease, to which, in the usual course of 
events, they would have had no access, if he 
had been preserved to them. If they are wor- 
thy of the race of which they are descended, 
they come forward, and effectually supply his 
place to the world ; and the providence of God 
not seldom affords them the means, to emulate 
both his usefulness and his virtues. 

Though the progress as well as the characters 
of different families, left in similar ci rcumstances, 
must of necessity be very different, it will at least 
he admitted, that we see enough in the course of 
human life, to warrant us in considering the un- 
protected children of good men, as monuments 
which the hand of Providence continues to rear 
before us, to shew, that, by the influence of God, 
" all things work together for good to them who 
love him," and to their childen after them. 

The death of a man who is known to have 



* Psalm lxviii. 5. 



284 THE CONDUCT OF GOD SER. 

been destitute both of principle and morals, an 
event very different from this, will be observed; 
in many instances, to have the same general re- 
sult. 

If he is driven, in his wickedness, to an un- 
timely grave, and his family are also left help- 
less and dependent, it is impossible not to be 
sensible of the severity of a calamity, which has 
every aggravation attending it, which it can de- 
rive from his personal character. 

On the other hand, the consequences of this 
calamity will very frequently have just the con- 
trary appearance. The family of such a man 
will often be found to receive the most import- 
ant advantages of their youth, and their best pre- 
paration for active life, by means of an event, 
which effectually separates them from him, and 
from all the effects of his tuition. Removed 
from the unprincipled lessons, and from the 
pernicious example, which, if he had lived, he 
would certainly have given them; if, in the 
course of providence, God entrusts them to the 
care, or places them under the influence of those, 
whom he directs and enables to train them, in 
godliness, in sincerity, in love to God, and in 



SER. 9- 



TO GOOD MEN. 



^85 



fidelity to men ; their real prosperity begins, by 
the blessing of heaven, with their first affliction, 
and is carried on by means of the situations to 
which it has introduced them. They come for- 
ward into life, as new men, born into the world; 
with all the advantage of good instruction, and 
faithful discipline : neither accustomed to idle- 
ness and folly, by their father's negligence ; nor 
tainted by his vices ; nor corrupted by his max- 
ims; as under his influence they would have 
been : but formed, by the kindness of heaven, 
in a far different school, to glorify God among 
their brethren ; and, if they shall abide by 
their early impressions, to distinguish themselves 
through life, by every worthy and estimable 
quality. 

This is no hypothetical case, unsupported by 
facts and experience. Those who have lived 
long, or who have had sufficient opportunities of 
observing the means, by which individual men 
are introduced to the business of .the world, will 
find many examples within their own knowledge, 
to justify this representation. They will recol- 
lect families, indebted, under God, for their pros- 
perity, to events which placed them under bet- 



236 



THE CONDUCT OF GOD. 



S ER, 



ter instructors than their parents would have 
been : Families, whose habitation has become, 
by such providential means, what the house of 
their fathers never was, " an habitation of God 
through the Spirit ;" Families, followed by pros- 
perity through life, who have good reason to re- 
fer the commencement of all the advantages 
they possess, to events, which the world set 
clown as great calamities, but which the provi- 
dence of God selected to demonstrate, that " all 
things work together for good, to them who are 
the called according to his purpose." 

There are not many afflictions which make a 
deeper impression, than the calamities which 
blast the prospects of youth and vigour, or which 
unexpectedly take our friencls, or our children, 
from the world, in the morning of life. 

We are seldom happier, than when, we see 
those in whom we are deeply interested, enter- 
ing into the world, with every promise of re- 
spect and usefulness ; with good personal talents, 
and an original strength of understanding; with 
kind affections towards their intimate associates, 
and a faithful application to the duties of their 
youth ; and with every external appearance, to 



SER. 9. 



TO GOOD MEN. 



287 



afford them a reasonable prospect of a long* and 
prosperous life. 

On the other hand, we suffer one of the hea- 
viest afflictions incident to men, when we see 
those who have originally possessed these ad- 
vantages, unexpectedly arrested by calamities, 
which blast for ever every youthful expectation ; 
by lingering and hopeless diseases ; by unfore- 
seen and irreparable disasters ; or by a sudden 
and irresistible decline, which has scarcelv been 
observed, till they sink into the grave. 

Every circumstance, in this representation, is 
full of gloom. We can scarcely resist our incli- 
nation to ask, For what was their youth design- 
ed ? Or, why are so many talents and affections 
combined, to perish without employment, and 
without a memorial ? 

We see but a small part of the designs pf 
God : But on this subject, we may observe 
enough to satisfy our doubts, and to confirm 
our faith. Their youth is not spent in vain, 
who have early learned " to love God," and 
serve him. Their affections and their talents 
are not given them in vain, if they are able, even 
for the limited term prescribed, to apply them 



28S 



THE CONDUCT OF GOD SER. 



successfully to the duties which they are capa- 
ble of fulfilling. Their example itelf is not in 
vain, nor the temper of their minds, during the 
few years they are permitted to associate with 
their fellows. If they die before their time, it 
is the will of God, that " their testimony" in 
this world should be chiefly given by maens of 
the dispositions and the industry of youth ; by 
means of early sufferings, and untimely death*; 
or, by the virtues which a state of suffering re- 
quires in them " who love God by patience 
and resignation, and trust in God ; by kindness 
and gratitude to those who assist them in their 
afflictions; by the faith which overcomes both 
sorrow and death; by " the blessed hope," 
\v r hich enables them to count as nothing, all 
that they relinquish in resigning the expectations 
of this \v T orld ; or by a calm and deliberate pre- 
paration for eternity, in which every feeling and 
desire of youth gives place, to the glorious anti- 
cipation of the great salvation of God. 

There is nothing in all the distinctions of this 
world, to be compared with a life and death, 

* Luke xxi. 13. Heb. iii. 5. St John ix. 3. 



SER. 9. 



TO GOOD MEK. 



289 



of which these impressive memorials remain* 
If they are memorials of those in whom we 
have been affectionately interested, we have the 
satisfaction to know, that they lived and if died 
in the Lord," Their term was short; but 
" their testimony" is not lost. They lived to 
shew, how God is found of them " who seek 
him early ;" and how even the heaviest calami- 
ties which youth can experience, may qualify 
them, to glorify him among their brethren. 
They died to prove, that what we lose on earth 
by the will of God, and in dutiful subjection to 
him, we gain an hundred-fold in heaven; and 
that H precious in the sight of the Lord is the 
death of his saints Their death, connected 
with the circumstances which attend it, gives a, 
demonstration to the world, as decisive as the 
longest life affords us, " That all things work 
together for good, to them who love God." 

It is easy to multiply examples of severe af- 
flictions, operating effectually for the advantage 
of those who experience them. Men, who at- 
tend to the minute progress of religion, will re- 

* Psalm cxvi. 15. 
T 



290 



THE CONDUCT OF GOD 



SER. 9. 



collect many instances, in which calamities, 
which blast the expectations of individuals in 
this world, or which bring them to the brink 
of the grave, are sanctified by the grace of 
God, to direct them to their best views of their 
most important interests, or to rouse them to 
an effectual repentance. He who, during the 
course of his active life, has shut his mind against 
the most powerful considerations of religion, 
engrossed by the pleasures or perverted by the 
maxims of the world, will tremble before God 
under the immediate pressure of calamities; and 
by their effect on his conscience, in contradiction 
to all his former life, will be compelled to con- 
sider with deep anxiety and solicitude, " what 
he shall do to be saved." 

Though the best impressions, produced by 
heavy afflictions, do not always issue in conver- 
sion, and often unhappily last no longer than 
the occasions which produce them ; there are at 
least many instances, in which they are the most 
visible or effectual means known to us, by 
which individuals are brought to a lasting re- 
pentance ; or are persuaded, after having lived 



SER. 9. 



TO GOOD MEN, 



291 



in a very different state of mind, to subject 
themselves, heartily and earnestly, to the autho- 
rity of the gospel. 

Those are happy calamities, of which this is 
the result or the effect. They are selected for 
the glory of God, to accomplish an end, for 
which neither the considerations of reason, nor 
the advantages of prosperity, are effectual. If 
they contribute, by their influence on the mind 
and conscience, to gather into " the household 
of God" those " who are the called accord- 
ing to his purpose;" or to recover those 
whom the intercourse of the world has in any 
degree perverted ; or to " strengthen the things 
which remain and are ready to die*;" they 
may well be set down as events, which fur- 
nish another illustration of the doctrine of this 
text, taken from the observation of human life. 
We can certainly recollect situations, in which 
good men are often restored, by means of afflic- 
tions, when they have sunk into languor, or 
have been betrayed by temptations ; in which 
the discipline of affliction recalls them from 



* Rev. iii. 2. 
T 2 



292 THE CONDUCT OF GOD SER. C; # 

their errors; or reminds them of the good 
works which they have not done; or rebukes 
their negligence or their presumption ; or weans 
their affections from this life; or warns them 
against their peculiar temptations ; or teaches 
them, by a severe experience of the vanity of 
the world and of worldly satisfactions, the ines- 
timable value of the pure enjoyments of the 
Sons of God, and of " peace and joy in be- 
lieving." 

But I ought to add, that the many instances 
in which good men experience disappointments, 
which ultimately become the instruments or 
means which save them from greater calamities, 
will also afford us striking examples, of the man- 
ner in which the providence of God regulates the 
events of this life, for the advantage of those, 
" who shall be heirs of salvation." 

Every man of observation will recollect cases, 
in which individuals have been protected from 
the most serious evils, or have escaped from im- 
minent dangers, by means of disappointments, 
which were at first the subjects of their severe 
regrets: or be able to mention examples, in 
which even their disappointments have been 



SER. 9* TO GOOD MEN, 293 

converted, in the course of Providence, into po- 
sitive blessings; or have become, directly and 
exclusively, the means by which most import- 
ant blessings have been bestowed on them, 

hi like manner, it is impossible not to observe, 
that the circumstances of good men are often 
varied, with every original appearance of disad- 
vantage, when it is afterwards demonstrated, 
that the consequences are in every point in their 
favour. They discover, in the progress of 
events, that their situations have been changed 
by the wise interposition of God, in order to 
extend their usefulness, or to add to their per- 
sonal comfort, or to bring them within a sphere 
of duty or activity, from which they must 
otherwise have been completely excluded. 

There is a fact besides, of which a great va- 
riety of examples will occur to us. The kind- 
ness of God to faithful men, is not seldom con* 
nected with the time at which they are taken 
from the world. He takes them away, in ten- 
der mercy, " from the evil to come He se- 
lects the period of their death, to save them from 
evils, of which they could not have borne the 



* Isaiah Ivii. 1, 



294 THE CONDUCT OF GOD SER. 9. 

pressure: From evils, of which there is no 
warning given during their lives ; but which fol- 
low hard after their decease. 

All these examples are of the same kind : and 
there is scarcely any man's lot which will not 
suggest many circumstances to establish the con- 
clusion, to which they direct us ; to demonstrate 
the entire subserviency of all things, under the 
moral government of God, to the permanent 
advantage of " those who love him." I have 
only mentioned a few specimens of the general 
history of Providence ; or of events, which have 
the appearance of calamities, which, in the lot 
of faithful men, are converted, by their effects 
or by their result, into substantial blessings. 

The illustration of this view of the subject 
would be complete, if it were possible to repre- 
sent the immense variety of instances, in which 
God sanctifies the revolutions of this world, and 
over-rules them ; the passions and the ambition 
of men, the hostilities and competitions of pub- 
lic and of private life, the malignity of some in- 
dividuals, and the selfishness of others; to pro- 
mote the ends of his moral government among 
mankind ; to assist the progress of the gospel ; 



SEii. 9. TO GOOD MEN". $95 

to send the means of information " to those 
who sit in darkness to encourage the labours, 
to protect the innocent, and to comfort the fa- 
milies of faithful men. 

The conduct of Providence is often varied, to 
suit the variety of ends, of interests, and of cha- 
racters, to which it is adapted. But whatever 
the external situations are, which are allotted 
4f to those who love God;" whatever their sphere 
of duty is; whatever the talents are with which 
they are entrusted ; whether they suffer, or en- 
joy; and whether they live, or die;—" we know," 
from all that we perceive in their conditions, that 
" the hand of the Lord is with them." His 
blessing is in their prosperity, and in their suf- 
ferings, and in their labours, and in all their lot. 
" All things work together for their good;" so 
as to render both their present and their ulti- 
mate interests secure ; to carry on their proba- 
tion, by the most effectual means ; and to qua- 
lify them, by the best discipline of this life, to 
become pure and happy at last among the Sons 
of God. 

I have said, that we have less prejudice and 
partiality^ when we judge of the situations of 



296 THE CONDUCT OF GOD SER. 

other men, than when we attempt to form an 
estimate of our own. 

It is equally true, on the other hand; that 
what we observe has not the same effect on us, 
as that which we personally feel and experience. 
If we were equally dispassionate with regard to 
both, our experience is certainly our best source 
of information. — And therefore I add, 

III. That good men " know, that all things 
work together" for their advantage, from their 
personal experience of the conduct of Provi- 
dence. 

To enable you to enter into this view of the 
subject, it is necessary that you should deliberate- 
ly consult your own feelings, and endeavour toi 
recollect coolly your own history. 

Have ye been the children of Providence 
from your youth? Recollect the time when ye 
were friendless in the world ; that important 
time, when the peculiar difficulties which ye had 
to encounter, were directed by the wisdom of 
Providence, to raise up those, who comforted and 
blessed }'ou in the name of the Lord, and by 
whose help ye have obtained advantages for this 



SER. 9* TO GOOD MEfc. 297 

world, from which an earlier prosperity would 
have effectually debarred you. 

Look back to the circumstances in your pro- 
gress through life, which it was most difficult to 
bear: to your first, or your greatest disappoint- 
ments ; to the friends who deserted you, when 
ye had most occasion for their help ; and to the 
resources on which ye relied, which failed you, 
when ye tried them. And, on the other handj 
recollect before God, in how many instances, the 
advantages which ye have since enjoyed, and the 
prosperity which ye have since attained, have 
been, directly or remotely, the consequences of 
the hardships which went before them. The 
very events which ye considered as your hea- 
viest misfortunes, when ye experienced them, 
are precisely the means which have stimulated 
your industry, or taught you the value of talents 
which were before neglected, or opened to you 
sources of prosperity to which nothing else 
would have conducted you. Some individuals 
may besides recollect a period, when they con- 
sidered themselves as deserted or desolate in the 
world, and when God raised up those, in the 
time of need, by whom he sent the most unex- 



£98 THE CONDUCT OF GOD SEE. Q. 



pected or most substantial comfort to their 
hearts, concerning all which had befallen them. 

But the most important views of affliction 
which this text ought to suggest to us, are cer- 
tainly those which represent it as the moral dis- 
cipline of God, which, with regard to " them 
who love him," is universally employed in sub- 
serviency to their probation for the world to 
come, and to their eternal salvation by Jesus 
Christ. 

Though the examples, which I have mention- 
ed, frequently occur, it is by no means univer- 
sally true, that good men always receive worldly 
advantages as the result of external calamities. 
There is great variety in the history of Provi- 
dence, with regard to the affairs of the present 
life : And the permanent interests of " those who 
love God," are neither consistent with a conti- 
nued prosperity, nor permit their prosperity, as 
often as it is interrupted, to be restored to them; 
Nor is it always for their ultimate advantage 
that they should either be relieved from their 
heaviest afflictions, or should find them compen- 
sated in the present world. 

On the contrary, it is not only essential to the 



6ER. 9. TO GOOD MEN. 299 

ends of God's moral government, that good men 
should often suffer severely, but that they should 
sometimes suffer through life; and still more 
frequently, that the advantages which they reap 
from the severest calamities, should be entirely 
confined to their moral effects, and to their last 
result " at the resurrection of the just." 

This is an important view of the subject : And 
it represents to us the salutary effects of the dis- 
cipline of God, as clearly, as we discover it in 
the greatest prosperity which compensates our 
worst calamities. 

I have shewn before, that it is by means of 
afflictions, suited to their peculiar tempers, that 
some individuals are introduced into the family of 
God " according to his purpose f and that it 
is by continued trials and vicissitudes, that others 
are prepared and purified, both for the service 
which they are required to accomplish in this 
world, and for " the glory hereafter to be re- 
vealed in them." 

Our lot in this life is determined by the wisdom 
of God, and not by our private inclinations. But 
let those, whose faith and patience have been 
fully tried, consider dispassionately* with how 



300 



THE CONDUCT OF GOD 



SER. 9. 



much certainty ff they know,* from experience, 
that the discipline of God " has wrought effec- 
tually for their good." 

Let him look back to his experience, whose 
mind was first effectually directed to practical 
Christianity, in the furnace of affliction ; and 
who was there first of all " baptized with the 
Holy Ghost, and with fire *." 

Let those look back, who are conscious that 
they were saved from the influence of tempta- 
tions, which had almost destroyed them, by 
means of severe afflictions which placed their 
sins fully before them, or which subdued the 
obstinacy of their tempers ; and who are now 
able to say, with faith and triumph, from their 
reflection on the effects of this discipline of God, 
" We are not of them who draw back unto per- 
dition, but of them who believe to the saving of 
the soul t." 

Let those recollect their experience, who have 
learned, in the school of affliction, patience, or 
fortitude, or trust in God ; and who have there re- 

* Matth. iii. 11. 

t Heb. jfc 39. 



SER. 9. 



TO GOOD *f EN. 



301 



nounced the passions of the world, " that Christ 
might dwell in their hearts by faith *.*" 

Let those look back, who have risen from the 
pressure of heavy calamities, better than ever pre- 
pared to labour " for the testimony of Jesus 
Christ f," and " to strengthen their brethren ' 
in the world. 

Let " the poor of this world" look back, whom 
adversities have followed through all their pilgri- 
mage, but " whom God hath chosen to be rich 
in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath 
promised to them who love him 

Let good men, of every class, thus deliberate- 
ly consult their personal experience ; and consi- 
der minutely the connexion which has subsisted 
betwixt their worldly condition and their spiri- 
tual life ; the progress of both, by means of the 
discipline adapted to their personal duties, or to 
their peculiar characters ; and the relation of the 
whole series of successive events, which have dis- 
tinguished their lot, not only to their fidelity in 
the duties of the present life, but to the probation 
appointed them for the eternal world : and their 



* Ephes. iii. 17. 
1 James ii. 5, 



f J*ey. i. 9. 



302 THE CONDUCT OF GOD. SER. £. 

experience will universally impress this doctrine 
on their minds, " that all things work together 
for their good," according to the gracious inten- 
tions of " him who worketh all in all 

A devout man, who is accustomed to take 
this minute view of the conduct of Providence 
to himself, will naturally express his feelings on 
the subject, in such words as these: " Good in 
all things is the will of the Lord. I know and 
feel that it is good and wise." " By the grace of 
God, I am what I am;" by the blessings which 
he has multiplied around me; by the discipline 
which he has chosen for my lot; by the help 
which he has sent me in the time of need ; by 
the hope with which he has cheered me, when 
my heart was faint ; by the difficulties which he 
has taught me to surmount ; by the afflictions 
which he has enabled me to bear; by the du- 
ties which he has prepared me to fulfil ; by the 
happy impressions which have revived my cou- 
rage, and gladdened my tabernacle, when " the 
Spirit of the Lord God was upon me." " Good 
in all things is the will of the Lord." 

Comfort yourselves, and comfort one another 



* 1 Cor. xii, 6. 



SEIt. 9* 



TO GOOD MEN. 



303 



with these words. If your observation and your 
experience united, remind you of the advanta- 
ges and of the consolations, which have never 
yet been with-held from " them who love God ; M 
they tell you, not less clearly, where their best 
resources ought hereafter to be found. 

The dominion of God is universal and per- 
petual: and Christ, to whom " all power in 
heaven and on earth is given*," " is the same 
yesterday, to-day, and for ever f " Commit 
your way and u commit the keeping of your 
souls, to him ||." He knows you all by your 
names. " He is touched with the feeling of our 
infirmities He gives to every man the help 
which is suited to his peculiar duties. He says 
to every faithful servant in his own place, " My 
grace is sufficient for thee ^[." He says to every 
afflicted disciple, who " takes to himself the ar- 
mour of God, that he may be able to stand in 
the evil day,'* " Because thou hast kept the word 
of my patience, I will also keep thee from the 
hour of temptation **." " To him that overco- 

* Matth. xxviii. 18. f Heb. xiii. 8. 

J Psalm xxxvii. $. J) 1 Peter iv. 19. 

§ Heb. iv. 15. «{[ 2 Cor. xii, 9. 
, ** Rev, iii. 10, 



304 THE CONDUCT OF GOD, &C. SER. Q. 

tneth will I give to sit with me on my throne, 
even as I also overcame, and am set down with 
my Father on his throne*;" "and God shall 
wipe away all tears from his eyes f." 

" He that hath ears to hear, let him hear 
what the Spirit saith unto the churches J.'* 

* Rev. iii. 21. f Rev. xxi, 4. 

t Rev. ii. 11. 



SERMON X* 



OK 

THE GENERAL SPIRIT AND EFFECTS OF . 
CHRISTIANITY. 



luke vii. 19. 21. 22. 
And John calling unto him two of his disciples, 
sent them unto Jesus, saying, Art thou ha 
that should come, or look we for another ?— 
And in that same hour he cured many of their 
infirmities and of plagues, and coil spirits, and 
unto many that were blind he gave sight. 
Then Jesus answering, said unto them, Go 
your xvay, and tell John what things ye have 
seen and heard, how that the blind see, the 
lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, 
the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel k 
preached." J * 

I do not at present enquire, why John the 
Baptist sent this message to our Lord ; or why 

* Preached in St Andrew's Church, Edinburgh, befWe the 
Directors of the Asylum for the Blind. April 9. 1801, 

U 



306 THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS SER. 1Q. 

he sent it at a time when his disciples had just 
reported to him the miracles which Jesus did, 
and the general persuasion of the people con- 
cerning him, when " they glorified God, say- 
ing, That a great prophet was risen among 
them, and that God had visited his people*.'' 
Certainly John could require no confirmation 
of his own faith, concerning him on whom " the 
Holy Ghost had descended" before his eyes, 
in exact conformity to the original sign or inti- 
mation given him " by him who sent him to 
baptise with water f;" and least of all could 
he require it, after the solemn representation 
which he himself had given of the progress of 
our Lord's ministry, now that he heard (as the 
evangelist in the preceding verses relates) of the 
reverence and awe, which his preaching and his 
miracles had spread through all Judea and the 
adjacent country, 

John's message, and the answer which was 
given him, connected with the peculiar circum- 
stances which attended them, were certainlv 
well calculated to confirm the faith pf his disci- 



* Luke vii. 16. t St John i. 33. 



PR. 10. OF CHRISTIANITY. 307 

pies ; and to give the people in general a striking 
view of the relation subsisting betwixt his mis- 
sion and our Lord's ministry, and of the subser- 
viency of the one to the other. 

But the chief instruction to which the text 
ought to direct our attention, arises from this 
fact, — That it represents to us a great and essen- 
tial character of the Messiah's reign, described 
by the prophecies of the Qld Testament, and 
brought directly home to the person and minis- 
try of our Lord \ literally verified by his preach- 
ing and by his miracles in Judea ; and after- 
wards attached, by indelible memorials, to the 
whole history and progress of the gospel. 

This character of the Messiah's reign consists 
of two important articles ; the relief which 
Christianity provides for the miserable; and the 
general instruction which it spreads among the 
great mass of the people. 

I shall consider it in both these views : 

1. As it appeared in the miracles and in the 
personal ministry of our Lord. 

2. As it has followed and distinguished the 
promulgation of the gospel, from the first age to 
the present time. And, 

v 2 



308 THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS SER. 10, 

3. As it influences or determines the conduct 
of individual men. Let us attend to it, 

I. As it appeared in the miracles and in the 
personal ministry of our Lord. 

The prophecies of the Old Testament contain 
the most animated descriptions of the effects of 
the Messiah's reign on the conditions of man- 
kind ; and, in particular, of the power which he 
was to employ in counteracting the miseries of 
human life, and in spreading, among all the or- 
ders of the people, the light and knowledge on 
which the true interests and happiness of men 
depend. " Then," said the prophet Isaiah, 
" the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and 
the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped ; then 
shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the 
tongue of the dumb shall sing # ." " The poor 
among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of 
Israel ffl 

As far as these prophetic descriptions related 
to the exercise of the Messiah's power in relie- 
ving the miseries of the present life, and to his 
personal ministry on earth, they are directly 



* Isaiah xxxv. 5. 6. 



f Isaiah xxix. 19, 



SER. 10. 



OF CHRISTIANITY. 



309 



applied by our Lord, in his answer to John's 
disciples, to the miracles which he did in Judea^ 
' and in particular to those which he did in their 
presence. They were certainly intended to go 
farther, and to represent the general spirit and 
character of the dispensation of the gospel. But, 
first of all, they were designed to represent the 
grace and the miraculous powers, which the 
Messiah was to exercise for the release and con- 
solation of the miserable, in confirmation of his 
mission and authority from Heaven. " Go s 
and tell John what things ye have seen and 
heard." If the miracles done in Judea, and 
done before your eyes, were described before, as 
the prophetic characters of the Messiah's power, 
and as the signals of his reign ; then is the Mes- 
siah come indeed, and his reign on earth is now 
begun. # 

The answer was complete, as addressed to 
John, whether the facts referred to were consi- 
dered, as the literal and exact fulfilment of the 
prophecies concerning the Messiah, or as mira- 
culous works which demonstrated the power of 
God to reside in him who performed them. 

The great character of the Messiah's reign 



310 THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS SER. 1(3. 

described by the prophets, which consisted in the 
consolation and relief he was to bring to the af- 
flicted and the miserable, is completely ascertain- 
ed and verified in the person and in the miracles 
of Jesus of Nazareth. The Messiah of the pro- 
phets was " to comfort all who mourned f And 
in receiving the answer given them, the disci- 
ples of John saw before them " a man like the 
Son of God," at whose word, " the blind recei- 
ved their sight, the lame walked, the lepers were 
cleansed, the deaf heard,- the dead were raised 
up." The laws of nature and providence were 
equally subject to him, and yet all his power 
was employed in mercy for the miserable ; " to 
heal the sick, to raise the dead, to bind up the 
broken heart." If this was the prophetic cha- 
racter given to the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth 
was truly the Messiah predicted, " in whom 
dwelt the fulness of the Godhead bodily ; and 
those who were permitted to be witnesses of his 
acts of power and mercy, saw " his glory, the glo- 
ry as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of 
grace and truth 



* St John i. 14. 



SEU. 10. 



OF CHRISTIANITY. 



As the effects of supernatural power, the mi- 
racles of our Lord were demonstrations of his 
divine character and mission, and affixed the at- 
testation of Heaven to all that he taught and 
suffered in the world. But as works of mercy 
and compassion, done for the wretched and the 
helpless, and done through all the land of Ju- 
dea, they gave a character to the dispensation of 
religion which his ministry was to establish, not 
less peculiar or impressive, than the seal of au- 
thority. Every where his miracles were done 
with the same spirit and design ; not more as 
acts of power, than as mercy and release to 
suffering men. " He healed all manner of sickness 
and disease among the people*" He brought 
back to a sound mind him whom Satan had brui- 
sed. He restored even the dead to the prayer of 
sorrow. With all nature and providence at his 
command, his power was employed as the signal 
of his compassions. Nothing was done to as- 
tonish, and nothing to destroy ; nothing to daz- 
zle, or to confound the multitude* All was 
done in mercy to helpless men, and done as the 
opportunities naturally occurred. The meanest 

i 



312 THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS SER. 10. 



of the people said not in vain to him, " Have 
mercv on me*" 

It is evident that this character of the whole 
series of our Lord s miracles # , as the ministry 
of tenderness and compassion, effectually distin- 
guishes them from all the other miracles record- 
ed in the history of the world, and, as their pe- 
culiar feature, must be inseparably affixed to the 
spirit and design of the dispensation they were 
intended to confirm. 

The temper of our Lord himself is still more 
peculiar and impressive. It is impossible, with- 
out emotion, to contemplate the tenderness with 
which " he was touched with the feeling of 
human infirmities :" To observe, how he look- 
ed on the multitudes, when they brought him 
" the lame, the blind, the dumb, the maimed, 
and he healed them all The sympathy with 

* The miracle performed at Cana in Galilee, the permission 
given to the demons to take possession of the swine, and the 
withered fig-tree, have been represented as exceptions to this 
general doctrine. They are not really so. But enough has 
been said by others on this topic, to render the discussion of it 
here quite unnecessary. 



bER. 10. 



OF CHRISTIANITY. 



313 



which he regarded the leper, who said to him, 
"Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean," 
when, in mercy, he replied, "I will, be thou, 
clean : m The kindness with which he addres- 
sed the woman of Canaan, who pleaded for the 
crumbs of the childrens bread; "O woman, 
great is thy faith. Be it unto thee, even as thou 
wilt:f" The tenderness with which he met 
the widow of Nain, who followed her only son 
to the grave ; " When he saw her, he had com- 
passion on her, and said unto her, Weep not ;*■ 
"he touched the bier," and raised the young 
man to life, "and delivered him to his mo- 
ther : The peculiar emotions with which he 
heard that his friend Lazarus was sick and was 
dead : How he wept with his sisters, Martha 
and Mary, as they followed him to the grave 
of their brother; where, with visible emotion, 
such as he did not often express, he called him 
back from the dead, and restored him to his fa- 
mily §: The tenderness and melting affection with 
which he prayed for his disciples in his agony f 



* Matth. viii. 2. 3. 
% Luke vii. 13. 14. 15. 



f Matth. xv. 28. 
§ St John xi« 1 — 4& 



314 THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS SEU. 10. 

and commended them to God: The kindness 
with which he forgave their infirmity, and the 
affectionate terms in which he expressed his 
compassion for them, " The spirit indeed is will- 
ing, but the flesh is weak:*" The compassion 
which he could not with-hold even from the 
servant of his murderers, when " he touched 
his ear and healed him f" at the moment when 
they led him away to be scourged and to be 
crucified : The affection with which, from the 
agonies of his cross, he commended his mother, 
and the friend whom he loved, to each other's 
tenderness and confidence: J And the fervour 
with which, before he expired, he uttered this 
prayer for his merciless tormentors, " Father^ 
forgive them, for they know not what they 
do.§." 

Certainly "this man was the Son of God." If 
the ministry of compassion was to be the signal 
of the Messiah's reign, Jesus of Nazareth was the 
true Messiah, of whom all the prophets had 



* Matth. xxvi. 41 . 
;St John xix. 25—2?, 



f Luke xxii. 51. 
§ Luke xxinY 34. 



SER. 10. 



OF CHRISTIANITY* 



315 



spoken ; and this was the living character of 
his reign begun. 

But why do we not perceive, that the whole 
object and design, for which Christianity was 
promulgated, leads directly to the same point? 
The Son of God came into this world, " not to 
destroy men's lives, but to save them*;" " not 
to be ministred unto, but to minister, and to 
give his life a ransom for manyf;" "to seek, 
and to save, them who were lost;" to suffer, 
that God might have mercy on them; to die, 
that they might live; " to make peace by the 
blood of his cross J;" " That as sin had 
reigned unto death, grace might reign by him, 
through righteousness, unto eternal life§." 

The great object of the gospel is good- will 
from God to men ; mercy from Heaven to 
sinners of the earth ; mercy to many, " by the 
obedience of one." And one of its most im- 
pressive lessons, to those who embrace it, must 
therefore be, good-will from man to man; 
mercy among men, who are deeply indebted to 



* Luke ix. 56. 
% Colos. i. 20. 



f Matth. xx. 28. 
§ Romans v. 21. 



316 



THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS 



SER. 10. 



the mercy of God ; mercy to the helpless, and 
kindness to him who has no friend. " Love one 
another," said our Lord, " as I have loved you*." 
" I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desi- 
redst ; shouldst not thou also have had compas- 
sion on thy fellow-servant, even as I had pity on 
theef?" " All the law is fulfilled in one word, 
even this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as 
thyself J And who our neighbour is, our 
Lord has minutely taught us, in his parable of 
the good Samaritan, who had mercy on the man 
who fell among the thieves ; and of whom he 
said to every one who heard him, " Go thou, 
and do likewise 

A general compassion for the condition of 
the poor, the helpless, and the afflicted, was then 
a great and essential character of the Messiahs 
reign, as described by the prophecies of the Old 
Testament, which was exactly verified and ex- 
emplified in the miracles, and in the personal mi- 
nistry of our Lord. 

In what I have yet to say, I shall therefore 



* St John xv. 12. 
J Galat. v. 14* 



f Matth. xviii. 32. 33. 

§ Luke x. 30— 37* 



SER. 10. OF CHRISTIANITY. 317 

assume it as a fact, that this, which was one of 
the leading* or prominent features of the gospel, 
when " it began at the first to be spoken by the 
Lord" himself, was intended by the wisdom of 
God to become one of its essential and univer- 
sal characters, in every period of its promulga- 
tion. 

There is one point, on this part of the sub- 
ject, which is yet untouched; the general in- 
struction spread among the people by the pro- 
mulgation of the gospel, during the course of 
our Lord's personal ministry. The prophet had 
said, that under the Messiah " the poor among 
men were to rejoice in the Holy One of Israel 
and our Lord, referring to this prediction, di- 
rected the disciples of John to the fact, that 
"the gospel was preached to the poor;" and 
certainly intended to hold out this circumstance, 
as representing a peculiar character of the Chris- 
tian dispensation. 

Our Lord's ministry was, from its commence- 
ment to its close, chiefly directed to the great body 
of the people. He went constantly about, preach- 
ing the doctrines which he came to establish. He 
delivered them publicly in the temple of Jerusa- 



318 



THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS SER. Id 



lem, in every city, in every synagogue, in every 
quarter of Judea and Galilee, His manner of 
teaching was adapted to the understandings and 
to the conditions of every order of men; and great 
multitudes followed him wherever he went, as- 
tonished at his doctrines, and equally impressed 
with the awe of his miracles, and with his ten- 
der compassion for the miserable. The higher 
orders of men were no otherwise the objects of 
his attention, than as they mixed with the mul- 
titudes who surrounded him, and sometimes 
pressed forward to resist his influence among the 
people, who were " ever attentive to hear him*,'' 
and " who heard him gladly f." Like no teach- 
er before him, he went with his disciples pub- 
licly through all the land, " preaching the king- 
dom of God," and was attended by the multi- 
tude of every city and district. He sent first the 
twelve apostles, and afterwards " other seventy 
disciples/' that, by their separate labours, they 
might carry on the great design of public teach- 
ing among the people through all Judea; and en- 
dowed them with miraculous powers, which 



* Luke xix. 48. 



f Mark xii. 37. 



SER. 10. 



OF CHRISTIANITY. 



319 



gave a divine authority to their mission. More 
than this could not then be done, to fulfil the pro- 
phetic description of " the gospel preached to the 
poor;'' or of " the poor rejoicing in the Holy 
One of Israel;" or to verify, in the person of 
Jesus as the true Messiah, " the Day-spring 
from on high, giving light to them who sat in 
darkness, — to guide their feet into the way of 
peace . 

This then was the aspect of Christianity a- 
mong the poor, during the personal ministry of 
pur Lord. 

Before I attempt to trace its progress farther, 
it is necessary to remark, that both the distin- 
guishing characters which I have supposed to 
belong to it, were at this period almost entirely 
new to the world, and are not to be found either 
in the history or in the institutions of the an- 
cient nations. 

We are not to suppose men of any age or 
country to have been destitute of the feelings of 
humanity, or incapable of exercising them. But 
those who are acquainted with human nature 



* Luke i. 78. 79. 



320 



THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS SER. 10. 



know well, bow these may be controuled or 
perverted, by their superstitions, by their laws, 
by their inveterate prejudices, or by their gene- 
ral manners. 

There were virtues among the ancient nations 
which we read with a glowing satisfaction, and 
relate with pride and reverence. But their com- 
passion for the helpless or the sick among the 
people, the kindness of the great to the poor, 
their provision for the old, or for the dying, 
among the lower orders, or their general sym- 
pathy with their conditions, were certainly not 
among their virtues. Setting aside what we find 
in the history of Judaism, there has not come 
down to us one trace or vestige of compassion to 
the miserable, to the sick, or to the dying, among 
the common ranks of the people, which was 
sanctioned by the religion, or by the govern- 
ment, or by the institutions, or by the general 
manners of any ancient nation. 

This fact is so well established, that a seri- 
ous argument has been maintained in modern 
times, in defence of the ancient system of sla- 
very, founded on the assertion that it held out 



SER. 10. 



OF CHRISTIANITY 



321 



to the great body of the people the only effec- 
tual security which they possessed, againt the 
miseries of sickness, of famine, and of age *. 

If this is in any respect a just view of the pre- 
ceding* ages, it is no wonder that it should be gi- 
ven us as a distinctive character of the Messiah's 
reign, that, as the great Deliverer and Restorer 
of our fallen race, he was every where to heal 
the sick, and gladden the blind, and bind up the 
broken heart, and " to comfort all that mourn 
and that mercy to the miserable should be re- 
presented to be as much a peculiar, as it is a 
universal, character of the dispensation, over 
which he presides f. 

* Fletcher of Saltan's political works, 2d Discourse on the 
Affairs of Scotland, published in 1 6*98. 

We know besides, that, among the Romans, the captives 
taken in war were made slaves, in order to save them from be- 
ing put to death ; and that from this fact is derived the name 
" Servi," or " Servati," as explained in the Roman law: a 
circumstance which equally ascertains the existence and the 
inveteracy of the practice. " Servi autem ex eo appellati 
sunt, quod imperatores captivos vendere, ac per hoc servare, 
nec occidere solent."—- Justinian. Institut. Lib. 1. Tit. 3. § 3„ 
—Digest. Lib. 50. Tit. l6. L. 239. § L 

f It is a fact of great importance on this subject, that the 
barbarous policy of reducing to slavery the captives taken in 



322 



THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS 



SER. 10. 



The instruction of the great mass of the peo- 
ple, was a circumstance not less new or peculiar. 
The wisdom of the most enlightened nations of 
antiquity was confined to the schools of their 
philosophers. Their religion was wrapt up in 
impenetrable fables and mysteries, which but a 
few individuals were allowed to, examine. The 

war, was never abandoned, till it was effectually resisted by 
Christianity. The Christians, from the earliest periods in 
which they were engaged in wars, gave an example to the 
heathens, of preserving their captives, both from death and 
from slavery. They did so, not only without any influence of 
the governments under which they lived, but, in direct opposi- 
tion both to inveterate practice, and to the laws which had 
formerly existed ; though they sometimes accepted of a ransom 
for the captives, whom they allowed to return to their own 
country. " Sed et Cbristianis in universum placuit, bello in- 
ter ipsos orto, captos Servos non fieri, ita ut vendi possint, ad 
operas urgeri, et alia pati quae servorum sunt : Merito sane ; 
quia ab omnis caritatis commendatore rectius instituti erant, 
aut esse deb.ebant, quam ut a miseris hominibus interficiendis 
.abduci ncquirent, nisi minoris saevitia? concessione. Atque hoc 
a majoribus ad posteros pridem transiisse inter eos qui eandem 
religionem proiiterentur scripsit Gregoras (Lib. 4.) nec eorum 
fuisse proprium qui sub Romano imperio viverent ; sed com- 
mune cum Thessalis, Illyriis, Triballis, et Bulgaris. Atque 
ita hoc saltern, quanquam exiguum est, perfecit reverentia 
Christiana* legis ; quod cum Graecis inter se servandum olim 
diceret Socrates nihil impetraverat." — Grotius de Jure Belli et 
Pacis, Lib. 3. Cap. 7. Num. 9. § 1. 



spit. 10. 



OF CHRISTIANITY. 



323 



knowledge which the people at large were per- 
mitted to acquire, was only calculated to rivet 
on their minds the terrors of the most abject, ir- 
rational, and depressing superstitions. While 
the art of printing was not yet discovered, and 
the people were effectually excluded from all the 
means of information, which have become so ac- 
cessible in modern times, all culture and all real 
knowledge were of necessity confined to the 
higher orders of men. The instruction of the 
people could be no object of attention, and 
never was attempted. They were universally 
left to labour and to ignorance. 

We may no doubt recollect, that in the free 
states of Greece and Rome, a certain portion of 
information was inseparable from the spirit of 
liberty, and from the effects of the eloquence em- 
ployed to work on the passions of the multitude, 
either in public trials or political contentions. But 
it is not difficult to form an estimate of all the 
useful knowledge, which can be traced to this 
source, which, in its best state, had certainly lit- 
tle influence to promote either the virtue or the 
happiness of the people. And if this kind of 
information is excepted, which was accessible to 

x 2 



324 THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS SER. 10. 



a very inconsiderable number of the human race, 
the people of the ancient world were effectually 
excluded from every source of instruction be- 
yond the perceptions or the observations of an 
uncultivated mind *. 

* The following observations of an eminent historian relate 
directly to this subject. 

" Instead of allowing any ray of that knowledge which 
illuminated their own minds to reach the people, the philo- 
sophers formed a theory to justify their own conduct, and to 
prevent the darkness of that cloud which hung over the minds 
of their fellowrmen from being ever dispelled. The vulgar 
and unlearned, they contended, had no right to truth. Doom- 
ed by their condition to remain in ignorance, they were to be 
kept in order by delusion, &c. In confirmation of this, I 
might quote the doctrine of most of the philosophic sects, and 
produce the words of almost every eminent Greek and Roman 
writer. It will be sufficient, however, to lay before my readers, 

a remarkable passage from Strabo," &c. Then follows a 

long quotation from Strabo, Lib. 1. p. 36. which fully con,- 
lirms the preceding observations. 

The author goes on : — " These ideas of the philosophers o r f 
Europe were precisely the same which the Brahmins had adopt- 
ed in India, and according to which they regulated their con- 
duct with respect to the great body of the people. Wherever 
the dominion of false religion is completely established, the 
body of the people gain nothing by the greatest improvements 
in knowledge. Their philosophers cenceal from them, with 
the utmost solicitude^ the truths which they have discovered, 
and labour to support that fabric of superstition which it was 
their duty to have overturned." — Robertson's Historical Dis« 



SER. 10. OF CHRISTIANITY. 



325 



It was therefore no common attribute of pub- 
lic teaching, that it was given universally to all 
the orders of human life ; and it was, of conse- 
quence, a character of the Messiah, as new as it 
was peculiar, that he preached the gospel to all 
the people* " to the wise and to the unwise," 
to the priests and to the slaves ; that he preach- 
ed it through all the land ; and preached it to 
the lowest of mankind. 

There is no doubt, that in Judea itself there 
was more attention given, both to the relief and 
the instruction of the people, than can be found 
in the history of other ancient nations. The 
Jews were universally trained in the knowledge 
of their own religion. Its history, its doctrines, 
its sanctions, its precepts, its rites, and its pri- 
vileges, were equally open to them all. They 
were taught by their Scriptures, to regard it both 
as an obligation and as a happiness, " to consi- 
der the poor*." They had all access to hear 
their law read in their synagogues, and to hear 
the explanations of it which were regularly gi- 

quisition concerning Ancient India, Appendix, p. 331 — 334* 
passim. 

4 * Psalm xli* 1. 



326 THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS SER. 1 6. 



ven there; and, at least, a considerable number 
of them could resort to the schools of the scribes 
and doctors, who sat in the chair of Moses. 

But we must be sensible, that Judea, compared 
with the rest of the world, comprehended so sihall 
a proportion of the human race, that the institu- 
tions, which were confined to that district, could 
have no general effect dn the state of the world ; 
and that even after the Jews were generally spread 
through the Roman empire, neither their know- 
ledge nor their usages werie found to be incor- 
porated with the manners of the Gentile na- 
tions. 

We ought to consider besides, on the one hand; 
that the dispensation of the Jews was intended 
to be the preparation for the gospel, and that it 
made a part of the same system which was per- 
fected by the Messiah ; and, on the other hand, 
that the compassion for the miserable, and the 
general instruction given to the great body of 
the people, which are impressive characters of 
our Lord's ministry, go so far beyond the prac- 
tice and institutions of the Jews, as to leave them 
completely out of our view ; and, while " the 
law is regarded as the school to bring us to 



SEE. 10. 



OF CHRISTIANITY. 



327 



Christ*," present themselves irresistibly to our 
thoughts, as new and distinctive characters of 
the last and greatest dispensation. 
Let us now observe* as was proposed, 
II. How far the relief of the miserable, and 
the general instruction of the people, given us as 
the prophetic characters of the Messiah's reign, 
have followed or distinguished the gospel, from 
the first age of its promulgation to the present 
times. 

It might well be supposed, that, after our Lord's 
ascension, the apostles would preserve a strong 
impression of his miracles, of his public instruc- 
tion, and of his temper of mind; and that it must 
have been their first object, to accomplish the 
end of their apostleship in the same spirit. They 
were besides inspired by " the Holy Ghost sent 
down from heaven," and all their views and their 
activity were directed by his influence on their 
minds. They were endowed with miraculous 
powers* to be exercised in confirmation of their 
mission and authority. They healed the sick, 
they restored the lame, they raised the dead. 



# Galat. iii. 24. 



328 THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS SER. 10. 

And we must be sensible, that the miracles done 
by the apostles, and the exercise of miraculous 
powers, as long as they were permitted in the 
primitive church, bare the same general and pe- 
culiar characters which we have found in the 
miracles of our Lord, whose name and authori- 
ty accompanied them. They were universally 
the pledges and the instruments of mercy to the 
afflicted, and of kindness to the poor. In this 
point, therefore, Christianity preserved the pe- 
culiarity of its original aspect, during the ministry 
of the apostles ; and, at whatever time the exer- 
cise of miraculous powers ceased, continued to 
make effectual provision for the poor, at least du- 
ring the first two hundred years of its promulga- 
tion; while it maintained the struggle, in which 
it prevailed at last, against the superstitions of 
the heathens, and the persecutions which they 
excited against the Christians. 

The manner in which the care of the poor 
was regulated among the first believers, deserves 
our particular attention. After our Lord's ascen- 
sion, and the descent of the, Holy Ghost on the 
apostles, when they were commissioned to pro- 
mulgate the gospel, and establish it among all 



sfcR. 10. 



OF CHRISTIANITY. 



329 



nations, " beginning at Jerusalem," they began to 
give a regular shape and form to the institutions 
of Christianity, and to the church of Christ : And, 
next to their principal object, which was to preach 
the doctrine of salvation and of the remission of 
sins, by the death and resurrection of the Lord, 
they turned their first solicitude to the relief of 
their destitute brethren. From the time when three 
thousand men were converted, by the preaching 
of Peter on the day of Pentecost* the care of the 
poor became a matter of f* daily ministration/' 

At first the contributions of the church were 
delivered to the apostles themselves, " and dis- 
tribution was made (by them) to every man ac- 
cording as he had need*." Afterwards* when 
the number of the believers was greatly increa- 
sed, and the Grecian converts had murmured 
against the Hebrews, asserting that their widows 
had not received their full proportion, the apos- 
tles found it necessary (that they might be able 

to give themselves entirely to prayer and to 
the ministry of the word)/' to devolve the care 
of the distribution on " seven men of honest re- 
port, full of the Holy Ghost and of wisdom," 

* Acts iv. 35. 



330 



THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS 



SER. 1& 



who were chosen by the whole multitude of the 
Christians, and were specially ordained for this 
service # . 

This mode of administration, once established, 
accompanied the promulgation of the gospel, 
and, though with such variations as the circum- 
stances of particular cases required, became a 
settled ordinance in the churches planted by the 
apostles. 

The funds provided arose, among the first con- 
verts, from the liberality of the rich, who "sold 
their goods and possessions f," that they might ef- 
fectually enable the apostles to meet the necessities 
of the poor : " For the multitude of them who be- 
lieved were of one heart and one soul; neither 
said any of them that aught of the goods he posses- 
sed was his own, but they had all things com- 
mon J." Afterwards, when the gospel was spread 
from Asia to Europe, we find the benevolence of 
the distant churches united, to supply the wants 
of the poorer districts : And while this was done, 
we find an expedient suggested, under the au- 
thority of an apostolical advice, which has since 
been adopted, with great advantage, in the pro- 

* Acts vi. 1-6. f Acts iv. 34. $5. 36. 37* 

% Acts iv. 32. 



3ER. 10. OF CHRISTIANITY. 331 

gress of the Christian church, by which every one 
of the believers " laid by him in store, on the 
first day of the week," whatever he could afford 
to give, for the relief of the sick, or of the poor, 
" as God had prospered him*." One other 
circumstance was added to the benevolence of 
the faithful, in the care and tenderness of the 
apostles and of the elders of the church ; for it 
became an essential part of their duty, to visit 
the sick, and pray with them, comforting and 
strengthening them " in the name of the Lord f." 

I have mentioned these facts minutely, be- 
cause, excepting what was done among the Jews, 
they created the first regular institutions for the 
relief of the poor, which are to be found in the 
annals of the ancient world ; because they repre- 
sent the means, by which the inspired apostles 
followed out, what I have shewn to be, a great 
and essential character affixed by our Lord to the 
new dispensation ; and because they lie at the 
foundation of all that has ever been done, under 
the form of religion, or by public institutions, for 
the relief of the helpless and the poor, in the 
subsequent ages. 

While Christianity silently pervaded the Ro* 

* 1 Cor. xvi. 2. \ James v. 14* 



332 



THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS 



SER. 10; 



man empire* and the Christians were sometimes 
persecute^ and sometimes allowed to live in 
peace, the rules laid down by the apostles were 
generally observed among them ; the union 
which they preserved among themselves, and 
their care of the sick and of the poor, rendering 
them objects of respect, even among those who 
rejected their faith. 

We have many descriptions of the Christian 
alms-giving from the writers of the first century, 
who uniformly represent it as an essential part of 
the character of true believers, and enforce it as 
an essential duty, from the considerations which 
Christianity afforded them. And Justin Martyr, 
who wrote, about the 40th year of the second 
century, the Apologies for the Gospel, which he 
presented to the Senate of Rome, and to the Em- 
peror Antoninus Pius, has given us a minute ac- 
count of the management of the Christian chari- 
ties at that period, which corresponds exactly 
with the practice introduced by the apostles* 
When he is describing the manner in which the 
Christian worship was celebrated on the first day 
of the week ; as a part of the service of the 
Christians on that day, he has given us the fol- 



SER. 10* 



OF CHRISTIANITY. 



333 



lowing description of their alms : " The wealthy 
and charitable," he says, e( give, every man ac- 
cording to his own pleasure, whatever they are 
willing to give. What is thus collected is placed 
with him who presides in the assembly, and he 
employs it (either personally, or by the deacons 
mentioned in the preceding sentence), for the 
assistance, of orphans and widows, of those who 
are forsaken on account of disease or for any 
other cause, of those who are in bonds, of stran- 
gers who come from a distance; and, in general, 
he becomes a curator (or takes on himself the 
charge) of all who are in want *." 

* The whole paragraph deserves to be transcribed, and trans- 
lated. It is as follows ; 

Koc) ry rov ifhiov "ksyoftevrj qftsga,, iruvrw ztxrtx 
KoXug y\ ciygovg pivovrw Itt) ro ccvro cwsXivrng 
fyiverut) ztxi ret avofAvufAovsyfic&rot, rwv tt. f 7to<r t roKm i 

if - 

?l ret ffvyygfXftfActrct rm <7rgo$f]TM ctvetytvcaczzrcti 
[ASX/i^ s 7X, M i Si ' ZIT{X> ^vcu^svov rov ctvetytvacrzov- 
rog, o wrgoterrsog iict hoyov rqv vov()'/)<rietv zui ffgo- 
zXqtriv ryjg rm zocXcjv rovrav [AipijrTeag 7roie7rcti K 
STTSiroc ccvitrrtxttsda, zoivq vctvng, ztxi sv^ctg <ziyvxo~ 
ftev* ztxi, cog tfgozCpfiyjev, KctvtrctpiVM rj^uv rtjg $y- 
XV$) ctgrog vgo<r<pegerui zcti ohog zcti vdwg* zcti o 
vrgourrwg evfttxg opoiag ztx( ivyjxgKmag hern Svm~ 



334 



THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS SER. 1& 



There is no reason therefore to suppose, that, 
in this point, the Christian discipline was in any 
respect changed before the time of Justin; nor 

pig avrco avane^'xei, %a) o Xaog SKZvQyjfAeZ \eym 
ro afcqv* Kai !] SiaSoarig zai tj fj^eraX^ig aro 
rm evftagiprqievrM Izarra yiverai* zai roig ou 
Tagovri Sia rcov Siazovm ice^iterai, 'Qi evzrogovv- 
reg Se scat fiovXoftevoi, Kara xgoaigetriv ezaarrog rqv 
lavrov 9 oQovXerai SiSaa'i* zai ro rvKKeyo^evov va- 
ga r&> ngoefrZri aitori6erai y zai avrog eninovoa 
ogtyavoig re zai y/l^aig^ »ai roig Sia votrov q Si a\- 
Xqv airiav XeiTopevoig, scat roig ev Sear pots ova , ri % 
zai roig Ka^aenitirifioig overt, \evoig % zai affhug ntaN 
roig ev X^eia overt nnSe^cav yiverat. 

" On the day which is called Sunday, all the inhabitants 
of the towns, and of the neighbouring country, assemble toge- 
ther in one place. The history of the Acts of the Apostles, 
or the writings of the prophets, are then read, as long as the 
time will permit. Next, the reader having ceased, the person 
presiding, in a discourse, exhorts and admonishes the people 
to the imitation of those excellent examples. We then all 
rise up and pray : and, as we have said, when our prayers 
are ended, bread is brought, and wine, and water {for the 
observation of the Lord's <supper, explained in the preceding 
paragraph). After this, the person presiding offers up 
the most fervent prayers and thanksgivings ; and the people 
cry out joyfully, saying, Amen. At the same time, there is a 
distribution and communication made, from the thank-offerings, 
to every one -who is in need ; and to those who are absent, 



0 ER. 10. 



OF CHRISTIANITY. 



335 



have we any ground for believing, that it was 
materially altered daring the course of the three 
first centuries, or before Christianity was ac- 
knowledged by the laws of the empire. With- 
in that period, the gospel had been sent to al- 
most every quarter of the world, which was 
then known. As early as the end of the second 
century, Tertullian has tolpV us, that the Chris- 
tians were even then sufficiently numerous, to 
have defended themselves effectually against the 
persecutions excited against them fry the hea- 
thens, if their religion had permitted them to 
have recourse to the sword # . 

Proceeding on these facts, and supposing the 
gospel to have carried, as it certainly did, into 
every assembly where a Christian church was 
planted, that peculiar character impressed on it 
by its Author, by which it provided, on the first 
day of every week, for the afflicted and the 
poor, and sent the Christians every where " to 

their portion is sent by the deacons. But the \yealthy and 
charitable give," &c— Justin* Martyr. Apologia 2da ad Anton, 
Plum Imperat. p. 9S. 99» l»uiet, Paris, 1615. 

* " Si enim et hostes exertos, non tantum vindices occu),. 
tos, agere vellemus, deesset nobis vis numerorum et copiarum ?' 
—Tertullian. Apologet, cap. 37« 



356 



THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS 



SER. 10, 



feed the hungry," " to clothe the naked," and 
to comfort the sick and the mourning: — Sup- 
posing the faithful, as numerous as they are sta- 
ted to have been, constantly put in remembrance 
of " the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, 
*' It is more blessed to give than to receive*," and 
"In as much as ye have done it to one of the 
least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto 
mef :" Supposing this, I say, to have been, in 
general, a true representation of the church, 
at the period which I am now considering; 
it is impossible not to perceive, how great the 
change must have been, which Christianity had 
then produced, on the circumstances of the 
world, or how extensive its influence then was, 
on the conditions of human life. 

We are accustomed to see alms-giving gene- 
rally diffused, even among those who feel no very 
strong impressions from the Christian doctrine ; 
and are apt to ascribe this circumstance to causes 
very different from that to which alone it owes its 
origin. But it is impossible to consider the facts 
which I have represented^ without allowing that 
Christianity alone brought into the world the 

* Acts xx. 35. f Matth. xxv. 45. 



SBR. 10. OF CHRISTIANITY. 337 

kindness to the poor, and mercy to the helpless, 
which have universally attended its progress : 
Or that its effects on the conditions of mankind, 
by means of this single circumstance, and before 
it reoeived any sanction from public authority, 
must have been of the most extensive and im* 
pressive kind. It was the Messiah's reign, " the 
ministry of reconciliation" from heaven to earth, 
which first effectually inculcated, and spread a- 
mong the nations, good- will from man to man. 

I have no occasion to trace its progress far- 
ther; for, from the time when Christianity be- 
came the religion of the empire, public institu- 
tions of beneficence ^yere every where establish- 
ed: Institutions to provide for the orphan, for 
the widow, for the sick, for the dying, and for 
every description of the poor ; Institutions inter- 
woven more with the laws of religion than with 
the political system of any country ; and mani- 
festly the effects and the result of the doctrines of 
Christianity on the spirit of nations. The Em- 
peror Julian mentions in a letter to a priest of 
Galatia, and mentions it as a reproach to the 
worshippers of his own gods, that " the impious 
Qalileans (for so he termed the Christians), not 

Y 



338 



THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS 



SER. 1G. 



only provided for their own poor, but even for 
the poor of the heathens among whom they li- 
ved *" 

* Sozomeni Hist, Eccles. lib. v. cap. 16. Juliani Imperatoris 
Epistolce, edit. Paris, 1630, pag. 204. Epistola ad Arsacium 
Pontificem Galatice, 

There is much information with regard to the progress, 
as well as the corruptions, of beneficent institutions, in 
" Father Paul's History of Ecclesiastical Benefices and Reve- 
nues.*' 

In his 2d and 3d chapters, he traces the practice of the pri- 
mitive church, with regard to the poor; and afterwards the 
gradual progress and effects of Christian beneficence in the 
subsequent ages. 

" At Rome, where the greatest wealth abounded, the of- 
ferings were so large, that aboiit the year 150, they served 
not only to maintain the clergy and the poor Christians of the 
city, but to contribute largely to the neighbouring and more 
remote churches, as well as to the relief of; great numbers of 
Christian captives, in the several provinces, and of such as 
were condemned to the mines." Ch. iii. p. 7. 

" St John Chrysistom maketh mention, that (in his time, 
and he died in 407) the church of Antioch fed more than 
3000 mouths. It is also certain, that the church of Jerusa- 
lem defrayed the expences of an infinite number of people, 
who resorted thither from all parts. And we find in history, 
that Atticus, Bishop of Constantinople, assisted the church of 
Nice in Bithynia, on occasion of a concourse of poor people 
to that city, wherein were numbered ten thousand in one day? 
Ch. vi. p. 16. 17. 



SER. 10. OF CHRISTIANITY". 339 

It deserves to be added, that in this point the 
influence of the gospel has been extended even 
far beyond the bounds of the Christian church. 

* In the Theodosian code, we find a law of Constan-j 
tine and Julian, bearing date in the year 359, which exempts 
the trading clergy from paying duties? because all they gained 
went to the poor. So far were they from dividing the reve- 
nues of the church among themselves (as was unhappily too 
much the practice afterwards), that even their gains they 
threw into the common stock." Ch. vii, p. 18. 19« 

" After the eastern and western empires were torn asun- 
der from each other, the government of the churches also 
took another form. The eastern church kept still the esta- 
blished usage of living in common. But in the western, the 
Bishops, from being supervisors and administrators of the 
revenues, began to use them as if they were their own; and 
to assume a sort of absolute power in their disposition. It 
was therefore ordered in the western church, about the 
year 479, that a division should be made into four parts : 
The first was to go to the Bishop ; the second to the rest 
of the clergy; the third to the fabric of the church (in 
which, besides that, properly so called* was also compre« 
hended the habitation of the Bishop, of the other clergy, 
of the sick, and of the widows) ; and the fourth part went 
to the poor : which in most churches, according to St Gre- 
gory, included only the poor of the place : for hospitality 
was incumbent only on the Bishop, who was obliged, out 
of his own share, to lodge all the stranger clergy, and to de- 
fray the expenccs of the poor, who came from abroad.'- Ch«, 
vii. p. 17. 13. 

T 2 

- i 



340 THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS SER. 10. 



The Mahomedan superstition professes to be 
built on the authority of the gospel : and from 
this source, it has certainly derived all the cha- 
rities to the pilgrim, all the care of the poor, and 
all the compassion for the sick, so conspicuously 
engrafted on its perverted system ; the influence 
of the gospel being thus employed indirectly, by 
the wisdom of God, to soften and to ameliorate 
the conditions of myriads of men, who do not 
acknowledge the Messiah's reign. 

" All the Fathers who have written before the division 
vyas made of the goods of the church into four parts, have 
agreed that they belonged to the poor; and that the eccle- 
siastic minister had no other right in them, but to managr, 
direct, and dispense, according to those necessities. Yet all 
the ecclesiastics had not the management of the church estates, 
though they were maintained out of them, as well as the 
widows, the poor, and other miserable objects ; But this care, 
after the example, left by the apostles, was committed to the 
deacons, subdeacons, and other economists, who gave account 
to the Bishop, and in some places to the Presbytery. Ch. 
lii. p. 240, 241.— Father Paul's History of Eccles. Benefices, 
etc* translated by M . A m e lot de la Houssaie, Westminster^ 

Every thing is abused, which elepends on the agency of men. 
But the effects of Christianity on the condition of the sick 
and of the poor, were not completely lost, even in the dark 
ages; and will never be separated from the influence and 
success of the gospel. 



SkR. 10i OF CHRISTIANITY. 341 

At the same time, it is impossible not to ob- 
serve, among men professing Christianity, in 
how many forms even the care of the miserable 
has been made the instrument of corruption : 
How often it has been subservient to the worst 
designs, and to the worst passions of worldly 
men; and how often the depravity of man- 
kind employs it, to compensate the most fla- 
grant violations of their duties to Christ and to 
God. 

I mention this fact for the sake of remarking* 
on the one hand, That much practical good has 
been done in the world by the influence of the 
gospel, even on those who do not imbibe its spi- 
rit, or submit to its authority ; and, on the other 
hand, That the gospel is, in every age, precisely 
what it was, when it was promulgated by the 
apostles ; and that it universally attains its ends, 
not only by means of those who sincerely em- 
brace it, but as efficiently, by means of their 
influence on other men; for the advantage of 
human life, for the comfort and salvation of 
those who believe, and for the glory of God by 
Christ. 

On this part of the subject I have still to ob« 



342 



THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS SER. iO. 



serve, That the general instruction given to the 
great body of the people, and begun by our 
Lord's ministry, has universally accompanied 
the mercy to the poor and the afflicted, diffused 
by the gospel through every land. This was, 
in fact, the great and peculiar instrument, which 
Christianity employed for the conversion of the 
world. Christ sent forth his apostles, to speak 
to every man in his own tongue, and to address 
his doctrines universally, without distinction or 
reserve, to the great mass of the people; to "the 
Gentile and to the Jew," " to the barbarian, to 
the Scythian, to the bond, and to the free." 
Contrary to all the practice which had hitherto 
prevailed, with regard to the knowledge which 
was in the world before, <c it pleased God, by 
the foolishness of preaching/' and of preaching 
to all the people, " to save them that believe *.'' 
It is impossible to calculate the effects of the 
knowledge which was rapidly spread from Ju- 
dea through all the world. " The people who 
sat in darkness, and in the shadow of death, saw 
indeed a great light f and . the knowledge of the 



iCo^.i. 21. 



SEfc. lt>. OF CHRISTIANI1Y. 



doctrine of salvation by the Son of God, was 
followed by a thousand sources of light and in- 
formation, from which the people had been ef- 
fectually excluded in all the preceding ages. In- 
deed, the effect of the promulgation of Christi- 
anity to alt orders of men, to. disseminate every 
other species of information, as well as its own 
peculiar doctrines, and its immediate and general 
influence on the manners and character of those 
who embraced it, cannot be either questioned 
or disguised, by those who have bestowed any at- 
tention on the history of the times. The Empe- 
ror Julian, who renounced Christianity, and who 
laboured, with indefatigable zeal, to bring back 
the people to the ancient superstitions, saw so 
much of the effects of the Christian discipline, 
and of the regular instruction given by the mi- 
nisters of the gospel to the great body of the peo- 
ple, that, with a view to give the same advanta- 
ges to the heathen superstitions, he proposed a 
form of discipline, a system of public instruction, 
and even an institution for alms, after the model 
of the Christian churches, to be adopted and in- 
corporated in the temples of idolatry *. No con- 

* Sozomeni Hist. Eccles. lib. 5. cap. l6. Juliani Opera, p» * 



344 



THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS SER. 10. 



sequences followed from this design ; for before 
the experiment could be tried> the Emperors 
death put an end to all his frenzy. The fact, 
however, is a demonstration from the mouth of 
an enemyj of the power and success, with which 
Christianity was seen to have spread a general 
light and knowledge among the people. 

The corruptions in the Christian church, 
which were imperceptibly multiplied till they 
at last produced the monstrous usurpations of 
the Church of Rome, gave the first great check 
to the general information, which Christianity 
had diffused. After the people were no longer 
permitted to read the Scriptures, and were con- 
fined to a worship performed in an unknown 
tongue, the human understanding was soon in 
worse fetters, than it had ever worn ; and the ig- 
norance and barbarism of the dark ages followed. 

On the other hand, it is a fact equally certain, 
that the reformation and revival of the Christian 
church in the sixteenth century, was the signal 
of light and knowledge returning to the world. 

529, 530; where many circu instances are stated which plainly 
allude to the same things, though without any direct mention 
©f the Christian institutions. 



SfeR. 10. OF CHRISTIANITY* 



345 



The general knowledge of the Scriptures diffu- 
sed among the people, — the zealous and en- 
lightened exhortations of the first reformers,— *• 
the art of printing, begun at this critical time, — 
the books which the Reformation produced and 
circulated, — created a new sera in the history of 
the world ; and spread, more than ever, the 
sources of substantial information through every 
country* 

We have been more indebted for the supe- 
rior light of modern times, and for the modern 
improvements in every art and science, to the 
influence of Christianity, and to the means of 
information which it has created; to the effects 
of its doctrines, of its spirit, and of its progress; 
than to all other causes whatsoever. " The 
gospel, preached to the poor," has added much 
indeed, to the resources, both of the rich and of 
the wise; and has done so, by preserving in its 
progress, the same general and peculiar charac- 
ters, with which it was at first promulgated by 
Christ and his apostles. 

The facts which I have stated under this 
head, are of great importance in themselves; 
and, I trust, they will at least be thought sufficient 
to establish the general conclusion, for the sake 



346 



THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS 



SER. 10. 



of which I have produced them, to wit, that the 
relief of the miserable, and the general instruct 
tion of the poor, essential and peculiar charac- 
ters of the Messiah's reign, as described by the 
prophets, and which were exactly verified in the^ 
miracles and in the personal ministry of our 
Lord, have followed and distinguished the pro- 
mulgation of the gospel, in every age; and are 
attached, by indisputable facts, to its whole his- 
tory and progress. 

There is yet one branch of the subject remain- 
ing. I proposed to consider, 

III. The peculiar character, which I have il- 
lustrated as belonging to the Messiah's reign, as 
it influences or determines the conduct of indi- 
vidual men. 

The effects of Christianity, on the condition 
of the world, are universally produced, by means 
of its influence on the characters of individuals* 
But, as I have already stated, they are the result 
of its influence on those who do not believe, as 
well as of its energy among those who sincerely 
embrace it. 

It is perfectly obvious, that no man sincerely 
receives the gospel for his own salvation, to 



SEK. JO, OF CHRISTIANITY. 347 

whom it does not become a settled and determi- 
nate object through life, to assist the helpless, to 
comfort the sick, " to give alms of such things 
as he has and, within his own sphere, to do 
his utmost for the promulgation of the gospel, 
and for the general instruction and edification of 
the people. With all the variety of means and 
talents, by which our conditions are diversified, 
every man can do something in his own place, 
to follow out the spirit of Christianity in these 
points, for the glory * of God, and for the 
advantage of human life. What cannot be 
done by superior talents, may be often pro- 
moted by means of wealth ; and, where wealth 
has not been given, by means of good sense, 
of private influence, of zealous endeavours, of 
personal virtues, or of prayers to God. From 
the beginning of the gospel to the present 
hour, we must suppose every good man to 
have laboured in this service, though with 
more and less success, and even with more 
and less fidelity, according to the degree of 
his faith and ardour, of his good sense and 
patience. We must suppose the multitude of 
true believers, in all ages and countries, to have 



348 THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS SER. lOi 

laboured earnestly, separately or together, to 
bring home, by their personal exertions, the 
peculiar mercy of the gospel to the -afflicted* and 
its light and salvation to the poor. We must 
suppose, from the promises and from the grace 
of God, notwithstanding all the corruption of 
the world, that the effect of their labours, in the 
spirit of their Master, has at all times been con- 
siderable, to render the Messiah's reign, what it 
professes to be, The universal blessing of hea- 
ven to men ; a light to enlighten the nations, 
and " comfort to them who mourn ;" as well 
as " salvation to the ends of the earth." 

The more attentively we consider the his- 
tory of individual believers, we see so much 
the more of the perpetual effect of their la- 
bours, to ameliorate the conditions of human 
life, and to bring home to the circumstances 
of all orders of men, the peculiar characters of 
the gospel, which I have attempted to illus- 
trate. " Ye are the light of the world V* 
said our Lord, " and ye are the salt of the 
earth f." 



* Matth. v. u. 



f Matt li. v. 13* 



SEIi. 30. OF CHRISTIANITY. 349 

But I have affirmed, that the influence of 
Christianity is far from having been confined, in 
any age, to the personal labours of the individu- 
als who have sincerely embraced it. Much has 
also been done, by means of their influence on 
other men ; and by means of the general spirit, 
especially with regard to the points before us, 
which the gospel has spread through the world. 

On the one hand, charity to the poor, and 
compassion for the sick, the relief of helpless 
men, and a general inclination to ameliorate their 
conditions, the assistance to be given to the in- 
stitutions of beneficence, the means to be em- 
ployed for the purposes of public instruction or 
reformation, and the disposition among men of 
the most opposite characters to promote them, 
have become virtues of humanity, independent 
of religion. Much good has every where been 
done, where the direct influence of Christianity 
on individual men has been small indeed ; much 
good, which, after the facts are considered, which 
I have brought, from the condition of the ancient 
world, and from the history and progress of 
Christianity, must, in good sense and reason, be 
exclusively impute^ to the effects of the pecu- 



350 THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS SER. 1CL 

liar character of the gospel, on the general tem- 
per and conditions of mankind. We may allow 
ourselves to believe, that we find the beneficence 
of unprincipled men, and the beneficence of 
unbelievers, in the laws and sympathies of hu- 
man nature. But we shall not be able to shew, 
that they have ever been either generally or ex- 
tensively realised, except where the gospel has 
gone before to prepare the way. 

On the other hand, it is equally true, that 
there are multitudes of men, far removed, in 
their personal conduct, from the spirit of real 
Christianity, who have adopted the virtues of 
charity to the sick, to the youth, and to the 
poor, as if they comprised the substance of all 
practical duty and religion. By the misinter- 
pretation of a text, which they have learned 
from their youth to pervert ; a text which says, 
that " charity shall cover the multitude of 
sins*;" a text > ^which, in its true meaning, re- 
lates, not to charity or alms, but to the kindness 
or partial affection, which leads us to forget, or 
to coyer, the faults of those whom we love : By 



* 1 Peter iv. 8. Prov e x. 12o 



SER. 10. 



OF CHRISTIANITY. 



351 



the misinterpretation of this text, and by other 
considerations which they have adopted, with as 
little thought or reflection, they allow themselves 
to believe, in contradiction to the whole object 
and design of the gospel, that works of bene- 
ficence will be accepted, at the tribunal of God, 
in place of personal godliness ; or will be sufficient 
to compensate, not only the neglect or violation 
of many duties, but the commission of many 
positive and deliberate sins, in their personal 
conduct. 

I cannot at present lay open either the folly 
or the mischiefs, which this kind of persuasion 
lias spread through the world ; though I admo- 
nish you in the name of the Lord, that the doc« 
trine which is employed to sooth or to encou- 
rage it, is of the most pernicious tendency; and 
that it is charity of the best kind, to undeceive 
men on a subject, which is of equal importance 
to their present duties, and to all their eternal 
interests. 

But I have mentioned this fact, as another 
demonstration of the influence of Christianity, 
by means of individuals who do not sincerely 
embrace it, to accomplish its ends in the world ; 



352 



THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS 



SER. 10. 



and in particular, to render even them the in- ; 
struments of mercy to the miserable, and of in- 
struction to the poor. 

If the particulars, which I have stated, shall be 
combined, I trust they will be found to establish 
one general and important doctrine, to wit, that 
relief to the miserable, and the general instruc- 
tion of the poor, essential characters of the Mes- 
siah's reign, as described by the prophets, were 
leading and peculiar features of the gospel of 
our Lord Jesus Christ, as it was promulgated 
by himself and his apostles \ tfiat they have 
universally followed its progress, through all the 
ages and countries which it has hitherto reach- 
ed ; and that, as well by means of those who 
have not believed, as of those who have sincerely 
embraced it, they have universally produced the 
most extensive and salutary effects, on the con- 
ditions of human life. 

There cannot be stronger considerations ur- 
ged from experience, to persuade us, that the 
gospel will reach the latest ages, with the same 
living and peculiar characters; and that every 
succession and generation of men, among whom 
it shall in any degree attain its ends, must expe- 



SER. 10. OF CHRISTIANITY. 



353 



rience its efficacy by means of the same kind. 
" Christ is set for salvation to the ends of the 
earth,' ? and to the latest ages : and where- 
ever the habitations of men are found, the 
u Sun of Righteousness shall at last arise, with 
healing in his wings 

Can we have stronger motives, than these con- 
siderations afford lis, to relieve the sick, to com- 
fort the mourners, and to send instruction to the 
poor? Even those who do not believe, are the 
instruments of God in the world ; and they 
have at least the satisfaction to think, that the 
good which they do, is not useless, notwith- 
standing the corrupt sources from which it 
springs. 

But if we are indeed in earnest in embracing 
the gospel, for our own salvation, and for the 
service of God, both in this world, and in the 
world to come, it is certain, that we cannot em- 
ploy our talents or our ardour, with too much 
solicitude, to relieve the miseries of our fellow- 
creatures, or to promote their comfort and sal- 
vation. " Our labour is not in vain in the 

* Malachi iv. 2. 

z 



354i THE SPIRIT AND EFFECTS SER. 1& 

Lord." It will not he lost to those for whose ad- 
vantage we labour, or lost, as " the testimony of 
Jesus'- in the world ; " and in due time we 
shall reap, if we faint not." " I was hungry," 
said our Lord, "and ye gave me meat; I was 
thirsty, aiid ye gaye me drink ; I was a stran- 
ger, and ye took me in ; naked, and ye clothed 
me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in 
prison, and ye came unto me. For inasmuch 
as ye have done it to cme of the least of these 
nvy brethren, ye have done it unto me*" 

Ye have at this moment before you one de- 
scription of helpless men, who plead powerfully 
to engage your compassion; — a description of 
men, who, when the gospel began tp he spoken 
by the Lord, never cried in vain, " Jesus, thou 
son of David, have mercy on us." 

Blind by the hand of God, and, left to them- 
selves, completely helpless, they are here to be 
trained, by your assistance, to industry and com- 
fort among their brethren. The institution for 
their benefit, new in this country, has hitherto 
prospered by the blessing of God ; and its ad- 

* Matth. xxv. 35. $6, 40, 



5^R. 30. OF CHRISTIANITY. 



355 



vantages have exceeded the expectations which 
were formed of it. 

I commend them to your kindness,-— to the 
sympathy qf your hearts,— to the help of the 
rich, — to the blessing of the liberal hand,— to the 
faithful and tried beneficence of gppd men, 
- ' who know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ," 
" The blessing of them who were ready to perish 
comes" not in vain upon the earth. " He who 
hath pity on the poor lendeth unto the Lord ; 
and that which he hath given, will he pay him 
again*.* 



* Prov. xix. 1 



SERMON XI. 



ON 

THE UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION OF 
CHRISTIANITY. 



MATTHEW Xxiv. 14. 

" And this gospel of the kingdom shall he preach- 
ed in all the world, for a witness to all nations, 
and then shall the end come? 

Thkjie are two subjects mixed together in 
this chapter, which, to be well understood, must 
be precisely distinguished. It begins with our 
Lord's prediction, concerning the destruction of 
the Jewish temple ; an event naturally involve 
ed in the destruction of Jerusalem, which is re- 
presented in the concluding part of the preced- 
ing chapter. The twelve disciples, with all the 
prejudices of Jews, regarded the destruction of 



SEE. 11. OF THE GOSPEL. 357 

Jerusalem, and the end of the world, as events 
which were to happen together; not being, 
even at this time, sufficiently enlightened in the 
doctrine of their Master, to understand the tem- 
porary and subordinate design of the Jewish dis- 
pensation. 

In putting the question to our Lord, concern- 
ing the time when his prediction was to be ac- 
complished, they applied it indiscriminately to 
both these events, " When shall these things 
be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, 
and of the end of the world * t* 

Without correcting their mistake in explicit 
terms, our Lord gives them a variety of signs, 
by which they might know with certainty the 
approach of the predicted destruction of Jerusa- 
lem. But these he intermixes indirectly, with 
such intimations concerning " the end of the 
world," as were sufficient, when his doctrines 
should be better understood, to ascertain the pe- 
riod of this great event, as not only entirely 
distinct from the destruction of the Jewish city 
and temple, but as far more remote. 

One of the chief circumstances, which belongs 



* Matth. xxiv. 3* 



S5S UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. ll. 



exclusively to the signs, with which he connects 
"the end of thie world," is contained in this 
text, and relates to the universal promulgation 
of the gospel, before " the end shall come." 
" This gospel of the kingdom shall be pre&ched 
in all the world, for a witness unto all nations ; 
and then shall the end come." 

This declaration, given us by the Authbr of 
the gospel himself, is of as much importance to 
the present age, as it wa£ to> the age of the apos- 
tles : and will naturally lead us to consider the 
following points of doctrine, which cannot be 
uninteresting to those, who derive their consola- 
tions from the gospel. 

It supposes, 

1. That Christianity was not designed to be- 
come at once universal ; and that its universal 
promulgation Was intended to be the Work of 
ages. 

2. That the gospel must " be preached in 
all the world," before " the end shall come." 

3. That, whatever degree of success or of ne- 
glect may attend it/ the gospel is designed to 
serve, among all nations, " as a witness," or as a 
testimony, from God to men. And ? 



bF THE GOSPEL. 



359 



4. That, after the gospel shall be effectually 
promulgated to every nation under heaven, 
" then shall the end come," or, the final disso- 
lution of the world. 

I shall, in this discourse, confine my atten- 
tion to the first and second of these views of the 
text. 

We are incompetent judges of the government 
of God; and almost every different view of it 
presents to us difficulties, which are beyond the 
sphere of our limited understandings. If we caii 
only ascertain the facts, which are interesting 
to ourselves, and the practical consequences of 
them, which are to influence our conduct, we 
ought to be satisfied with the information afford- 
ed us ; though we must be sensible, that there 
is a great variety both of facts and appearances, 
which are above our reach. 

With this impression on our minds, let us 
consider, 

I. That Christianity, according to the lan- 
guage of this text, Was not designed to become 
at once universal; and that its universal pro- 
mulgation was intended to be the work of ages. 



360 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. 11. 

I use the term universal in its most compre- 
hensive sense. For it is evident, that the gene- 
ral promulgation of the gospel to Jews and Gen- 
tiles, began immediately after the day of Pente- 
cost which followed our Lord's resurrection ; 
and that, after the first dispersion of the primi- 
tive believers, it was gradually spread, by their 
means, and by the labours of the apostles, through 
all the provinces of the Roman empire. It is 
also plain, that our Lord could not mean to say, 
that the gospel was to become absolutely uni- 
versal at first, when he connected the universali- 
ty of its promulgation with " the end of the 
world $ and that he must have intended to affirm, 
that, by whatever gradations its progress was to 
be carried on, its ultimate universality was cer- 
tain, though it was to be the work of time. 

The success of the gospel in the apostolic age, 
when it is connected with the circumstances 
which accompanied it, is beyond ail doubt the 
most unexampled fact in the history of the 
world. By means of a few friendless men, all of 
them, but one, taken from the lowest and most 
illiterate orders of their country; with all the 



SER. 1 1. 



OF THE GOSPEL 



361 



powers of the world against them, and their own 
countrymen their inveterate persecutors ; with 
no weapons but the force 6f truth, and the mi- 
racles which they did in the name of the Lord ; 
the gospel made its way, and most commonly, 
by a silent and imperceptible progress, from pro* 
vince to province, and from one city to ano- 
ther, till, without any external help or protec- 
tion, and amidst a succession of many persecu- 
tions, the churches of Christ were planted in al- 
most every district of the Roman empire ; and 
even beyond the limits of the empire, both in 
Africa and in Asia. It overwhelmed every ido- 
latry in its progress ; establishing itself, hi op- 
position, both to the prejudices, and to the per- 
secutions by which it was resisted. 

In as far as Christianity could prove its au- 
thority by its progress, the evidence was com- 
plete, during the course of the first age; and 
couW never be either destroyed or diminished 
by subsequent events. 

On the other hand, it is equally plain, that 
there has been no age or period, since its first 
promulgation, when the gospel might not have 
been carried farther than it was carried ; when 



362 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. 11; 

there were not nations " who sat in darkness/' 
whom " the Day-spring from on high had 
never visited :" And when the means of more 
extensive promulgation w r ere not the objects 
of devout exertions, or solicitude, among true 
believers. 

A multitude of nations, scattered over the face 
of the earth, have, in every age of the Christian 
church, down to the present time, been without 
the knowledge of Christ. In mentioning this 
fact, I do not refer to the countries which have 
been deprived of the advantages of the gospel, 
after having been once in possession of them ; 
for this case will afterwards occur to us. But I 
refer to the variety of tribes, who, living in bar- 
barous, inhospitable, uncultivated, or idolatrous 
countries, have never possessed the advantage of 
the true revelation of God, beyond the tradition 
of their fathers ; and who have never been en- 
lightened by the doctrine of salvation by Christ. 

It is an unquestionable fact, that the promul- 
gation of the gospel has not yet been univer- 
sal; and that much is yet to be done, before it 
can become so. 

It must be equally plain, that it could not 



SER. 11. OF THE GOSPEL. 363 

have been the design of our Lord, that Chris- 
tianity should be at first universally promulga- 
ted. The same power, by means of the same 
kind, could have sent it, with as much cer- 
tainty, to " the utmost ends of the earth," as 
from Judea to Rome. It appears clearly to 
have been his intention, that its promulga- 
tion should be so rapid and extensive, as not 
only to render its establishment secure; but, as a 
public and undeniable pledge of the power of 
God, which accompanied it, to go far beyond 
every similar event. More than this was not 
effected ; and therefore we are bound to believe, 
that more than this, was not designed by him. 
The promulgation of Christianity to every peo- 
ple, and to every corner of the world, was, in 
the wisdom of God, intended to be gradual and 
progressive ; the work of many successive ages ; 
" the labour of love," among many successions 
of believers. 

The knowledge of the Scriptures, and even 
the doctrines of Christianity, may have penetra- 
ted into many countries, by means, of which no 
history in our possession has preserved the me- 
morials : And there are strong reasons for this 



36*4 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SEU. 1J. 

supposition to be found, in the known usages, 
and in the peculiar idolatries, of many of the hea- 
then tribes. But no doubt can exist of the 
general fact, that the promulgation has not yet 
been universal; however incapable we are to 
speculate on the difficulties* which may be sup- 
posed to be involved in it ; or to fathom the 
counsels of infinite wisdom* into which no hu- 
man understanding penetrates. 

It is not our province to understand, why the 
gospel has been with-held from any nation of the 
world, or why any habitation of men has been 
permitted to remain, longer than another, " the 
region and shadow of death ;" why, in some 
countries, successive generations are without 
" the knowledge of salvation ;" while " the Sun 
of Righteousness arises," for ages, on the nations 
around them, " with healing under his wings." 
But it is not more difficult to explain these facts, 
which are undeniably certain, than to shew, why 
four thousand years, in the history of fallen men, 
were expired, before the Son of God came down 
from heaven, " to seek and to save that which 
was lost;" or why the advantages of revelation 
were enjoyed for so long a period in the land of 



SEH. 11. 



OF THE GOSPEL. 



365 



Judea, while the inhabitants of every other coun- 
try were universally debased by ignorance and 
idolatry : Why the most precious medicines re- 
main unknown to many successive generations 
of men ; and, after they are discovered, can be 
communicated but to a small proportion of the hu- 
man race, to whom they might be useful : Or, in 
equal circumstances, to shew, why one man is wi- 
ser, or happier, or has better talents, or more pros- 
perity, than his neighbour. These facts are all 
on the same level, with respect to their ultimate 
cause ; and must be resolved into the unsearch- 
able counsels of God. They are not subjects of 
inquiry fit for our condition; and the solution of 
them is certainly beyond the sphere of our du- 
ties. 

But, without knowing more than the facts, 
we ought to find in the gradual and successive 
progress of the dispensations of God, the most 
interesting and forcible instruction. We ought 
to learn, on the one hand, that it is no argument 
against the authority of the gospel, that it has 
not yet been universally promulgated ; because, 
down to the present period, this was not the de- 
sign or indention of its Author. We ought to pb- 



366 



UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. 1L 



serve, on the other hand, that the continued pro- 
gress of the gospel, and its success, wherever it is 
sent, according to the declared purpose of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, is a continued demonstration 
of its divine authority, and of the pqwer of God 
which accompanies it. We ought to perceive, 
besides, the perpetual obligation of the believers 
of the gospel in every age, to become " fellow- 
workers together with God," in promoting the 
interests of vital Christianity, within their own 
sphere, and in embracing the best opportunities 
afforded them, to assist its gradual influence and 
progress, or to send it to those, to whom it is not 
yet promulgated. 

Let us now attend to the circumstances, from 
which we affirm, 

II. That the gospel must be universally pro- 
mulgated, before " the end shall come." 

It is the leading design of the text to make 
this assertion, in order to discriminate the sig- 
nals, which are to announce " the end of the 
world," from the signs, which were to go be- 
fore the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem. 
The universal promulgation of Christianity is re- 
presented as an event, which is certainly to hap- 
pen ; or as an event, to which we are to looJ< 



SER. 11. 



OF THE GOSPEL. 



367 



forward with confidence, before " the end shall 
come." 

The certainty of this event is laid down, both 
in the Old and in the New Testament, in plain 

and definite language, from the time when the 

> 

promise was made to Abraham, that " in his seed 
all the families of the earth shall be blessed*," 
to the period, when the canon of Scripture was 
closed, by the last revelation given by our Lord 
to his servant John, when he addressed him in 
these striking and solemn words: "I am Alpha and 
Omega, the first and the last: — Write the things 
which thou hast seen, and the things which are, 
and the things which shall be hereafter f," Our 
Lord sends forth his disciples at first, ff to teach 
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the 
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost .J;" 
and this commission has the same authority, 
among the believers of succeeding ages, which it 
had among the twelve apostles, till ?f the end 
shall come." The gospel is constantly in its 
progress to the nations, which it has not reach- 
ed ; and something has been done, in every age, 

* Gen. xxii. 18. f Rev. i. 11. Ip. 

$ Matth. xxviii. 19. 



368 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. II. 



to promote or to extend its promulgation. The 
miraculous works, to which much of its first suc- 
cess is to be attributed, are no longer promised, 
or to be expected. But the ordinary operation 
of second causes, sanctified by the Spirit of Christ, 
is destined to be as effectual in promoting the 
same ends, in the order, and at the times, " ap- 
pointed by the Father." The progress of know- 
ledge, of arts, of commerce, and of general in- 
tercourse, contributes, with more and less suc- 
cess, and with more and less advantage, to carry 
the knowledge of Christianity from age to age; 
to plant it where it was not before ; or to pave 
the way, in the course of Providence, for its fi- 
nal triumphs over every idolatry. The passions 
and the ambition of the world are made the in- 
struments to accomplish the purpose of God. 
That which men have meditated for the purpo- 
ses of rapacity, or to gratify the worst of world- 
ly passions, he not seldom converts into the 
means of diffusing, to " the nations which sat in 
darkness," " the light which enlightens the Gen- 
tiles," and " the salvation," which is destined for 
" the ends of the earth." 

Even in those cases, in which the gospel has 



SER. II. OF THE GOSPEL. 3^9 

reached the heathen nations, unhappily incorpo- 
rated with the corruptions which have disfigur- 
ed or perverted it, though its progress is retard- 
ed by this unhallowed mixture, it is not lost. 
Though those who embrace it, under such dis- 
advantages, want much, both of the means and 
of the information, requisite to shew them " the 
way of God perfectly," that portion of " the 
good seed" which is sown among them, not? 
withstanding " the tares" which are intermixed 
with it, " brings forth its fruit in its season." 
It keeps its hold of the soil where it is first scat- 
tered, till better instruments of culture are provid- 
ed, or till a clearer sun arises ; and " the Sons 
of God are gathered/' though £ the light" which 
directs them H shineth," for a time, " in a dark 
place # ." 

By the discovery of unknown countries, and 
the extension of commerce and of the arts to the 
most remote, the way is gradually opened for 
the promised universality of the Christian doc- 
trine; and those are made to contribute to it 
effectually, who have it least in their minds to 
become the instruments of its progress. God 

« 2 Peter i. 1$. 
A a 



370 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. 11 



stirs up men of different views and characters, 
and men possessing all the variety of talents and 
endowments, to assist the progress of his de- 
signs, or to pave the way for their final accom- 
plishment. The most promising appearances 
are often unsuccessful. But " that which is sown 
in weakness, is also sometimes raised in power;" 
and " that which is done in a corner, is at last 
proclaimed on the house tops." We are not qua- 
lified beforehand to form an estimate of the means 
employed, or of the effects which they are ulti- 
mately to produce. The weakest are sometimes 
the most successful instruments; and the means, 
which are apparently best suited to the end, are 
often found by trial to have been least adapted 
to it. But the progress of Christianity to its 
universal promulgation is notwithstanding stea- 
dily carried on, in the course of Providence; 
and, however imperceptible it may be at any 
one moment of time, it is both visible and dis- 
tinctly marked, from one period to another. 
If it sometimes seems to be lost in the blindness, 
the sensuality, or the perverseness of the world, 
the course of events as often demonstrates, that 
the barriers which have been permitted for a 



SER. 11. 



OF THE GOSPEL, 



371 



time to be raised against it, are the instruments 
which the wisdom of God had destined " to 
revive his work," or to send " the great salva- 
tion" of " the latter days," farther than ever 
among the nations. 

The gospel loses its hold of a degenerate, un- 
believing, and unprincipled people, who have 
fallen from the hope of their fathers. But the 
strength of the kingdom of God is not lost, by 
their perversion or impenitence. Christianity 
becomes the glory and salvation of another peo- 
ple; " rising as the day-spring from on high, to 
guide their feet into the way of peace;" or as 
" a cloud ascending like a man's hand from the 
sea," which gathers and spreads, till it covers 
the face of the distant lands. It accomplishes 
the purpose for which it is sent to one people, 
and collects from all their tribes the children of 
God. It is then "sent far from them among 
the Gentiles;" and thus the universal promul- 
gation predicted, is constantly advancing, though 
not by the rules which the wisdom of men would 
prescribe, according to the original intention of 
God, " which he purposed in Christ Jesus, before 
the world began." 

A a 2 



372 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. II. 

Without being more minute, with regard to 
the means or the instruments employed, I think 
the circumstances which I have mentioned suffi- 
cient to explain the general doctrine, that " the 
gospel of the kingdom of God," or the spiritual 
dominion of Christ, is in its constant progress 
through the world ; appearing in very different 
aspects where it has once heen established ; but 
gradually extending itself from one people to a- 
nother; and constantly in its progress, till, in 
the fulness of time," its universality shall be 
completely attained. 

We are incompetent judges of the success 
which attends it at any one period ; and much 
more, of the permanent effects to be expected, 
either from the means employed, or from the 
first appearances in any country. But all the 
experience of the past ages, as well as the ob- 
servation of our own times, accords with our 
faith in the ultimate universality of the kingdom 
of Christ. 

Besides the gradual progress of the gospel 
from one nation to another, by means of which 
we believe that it will at last reach every district 
of the world, there is another idea of its univer- 



SER. 11* OF THE GOSPEL. 



S7S 



sal establishment, before " the end shall come," of 
which strong presumptions arise, from the lan- 
guage of the prophetical scriptures. From them 
we are led to conclude, that it will not only be 
ultimately promulgated in every corner of the ha- 
bitable world, and in one age or another to every 
tribe of human beings ; but that a period will at 
last come, when theprofession of Christianity shall 
literally become universal on the earth ; when it 
shall be found in every nation of the world at the 
same time, and among every kindred of men; 
when Jews and Gentiles shall be equally united 
in professing the faith of the gospel ; when 
" there shall be but one fold and one Shepherd;" 
and when every false religion, and every idola- 
try, shall be overwhelmed, or extirpated by 
the kingdom of Christ. " There was given him 
(the Messiah) says the prophet Daniel, dominion 
and glory and a kingdom, that all people and 
nations, and languages, should serve him; his 
dominion is an everlasting dominion, which 
shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which 
shall not be destroyed*;" but which shall be* 



* Daniel vii, 14. 



374> UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. 11. 

come the last condition of the habitable world. — * 
" The God of Heaven shall set up a kingdom 
which shall never be destroyed ; and the king- 
dom shall not be left to other people; but it 
shall break in pieces and consume all the other 
kingdoms; and it shall stand for ever*."— 
" And the kingdom and dominion, and the 
greatness of the kingdom, under the whole 
Heaven, shall be given to the people of the 
saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an 
everlasting kingdom ; and all dominions shall 
serve and obey him f." 

Our Lord's assertion, in the text, is in precise 
correspondence with these antient predictions, 
and is a simple and impressive explanation of 
them. " This gospel of the kingdom shall be 
preached in all the world, for a witness to all 
nations, and then" (as if Christianity among 
the nations completed the designs of Provi* 
dence on the earth) " shall the end come;" 

In whatever sense this language of the pro- 
phesies is to be interpreted, whether as relating 



• Daniel ii. 44. 



f Daniel vii. 27* 



SER. 11. 



OF THE GOSPEL, 



375 



to the successive diffusion of the Christian doc- 
trine over every district of the world, or to the 
profession of the faith of the gospel by every 
nation of men at the same time, there can be no 
doubt that it was the intention of the prophets 
to affirm, that in one or other of these views of 
the subject, or in both of them united, " the 
gospel of the kingdom" of Christ will become 
universal on the earth, before the dissolution of 
the world approaches. 

The views of the subject, which I have now 
stated, naturally suggested by the text, serve to 
explain the conduct of Providence, with regard 
to the progress of Christianity from age to age, 
and the limited success which, in different ages 
and countries, has hitherto attended it; while 
they ought to teach us to look forward, with 
faith and confidence, to the certainty of its final 
and universal promulgation. 

There are other circumstances, of great im- 
portance in the history of the gospel, to which 
the text also directs us. Its influence on the 
condition of individuals, and on the state of 
the world, from its first publication to the pre- 



$76 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION, &C. SER. 1!. 

sent time, opens to us a wide field of instruction* 
I shall turn your thoughts to this branch of the 
subject, in another discourse, though it is far too 
extensive to be minutely illustrated. 



SERMON XIL 

ON 

the Universal promulgation of 
christianity. 



MATTHEW XXiv. 14. 

u And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preach" 
ed in all the world, for a witness to all nations^ 
and then shall the end come." 

T he history of Christianity comprehends a 
most important branch of the conduct of Provi* 
dence to the human race: And the different 
views of it which this text suggests to us, s^ve 
equally to establish the truth of the gospel, and 
to illustrate its practical effects among mankind* 

The points which I proposed to consider, in 
discoursing on this text, are these following: 

I. That Christianity was. not designed to be 



378 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION" SER. 12. 

at once universal ; and that its universal promul- 
gation was intended to be the work of ages. 

% That the gospel must " be preached in all 
the world," before the end shall com e." 

3. That, whatever degree of success or of ne- 
glect may attend it, the gospel is designed to 
serve among all nations, as a " witness," or as 
a testimony, " from God to men." And, 

4. That, after the gospel shall be effectually 
promulgated to every nation under Heaven, 
" then shall the end come," or, the final disso- 
lution of the world. 

The first and second of these propositions 
have been illustrated in a former discourse: 
And I am now to consider, what the text af- 
firms, 

III. That the gospel " is preached to all na- 
tions, for a witness," or for a testimony, from 
God to men. 

The meaning of the assertion is obviously 
this, That, whether the gospel is believed or is 
rejected, the circumstances, which attend its 
progress, are in every country permanent mo- 
numents, both of the importance and of the au- 
thority of its doctrine. 



SER. 12. OF THE GOSPEL. 



379 



Christianity is, in all the nations to whom it 
is sent, " a witness," or a demonstration, of the 
facts which are attested by its progress, and of 
the effects which are the result of its influence. 
Its history, fully understood, presents, in a va- 
riety of aspects, to the believers of successive ge- 
nerations, the evidence, as welt as the essential 
characters, of the faith they have embraced ; its 
continued triumphs, both over the wisdom and 
the depravity of the world ; the successive pled- 
ges which one age transmits to another, that the 
kingdom of Christ is established, and is in its 
progress through the earth, and that " the gates 
of hell shall not prevail against it f as well as 
the practical demonstrations of the wisdom of 
God, displayed in the means, adapted to diffe* 
rent times, by which the Sons of God are ga- 
thered from every land. 

I have already referred to the circumstances, 
which distinguished the first promulgation of 
Christianity. Within forty years after the death 
of Christ, it was received by a great proportion 
of Jews and Gentiles, in opposition to all their 
prejudices as depraved men, as well as to every 
national and religious prejudice* It had no as- 



380 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. 12; 

sistance from the governments, or from the phi- 
losophy, of the world ; but Subjected those who 
embraced it to every degree of scorn and perse- 
cution. The means of its promulgation were 
not, in their own nature, adapted to the ends for 
which they were employed: on the contrary, 
they appear to have been chosen* for this precise 
reason, that, possessing no natural fitness for se- 
curing the success to which they were subser- 
vient, it might be impossible to ascribe the pro- 
gress of the gospel to its visible means or instru- 
ments, or to any other causes than the energy 
of truth and the power of God f; 

It will not be easy to shew, that real Chris- 
tianity has ever been effectually promoted, by 
means dissimilar to those which were at first 
employed. After the first age,, its progress cer- 
tainly assumed a new aspect. It had no longer 
the advantage of the repetition of the miracles, 
which were wrought by the apostles and their 
disciples; and, after the lapse of three hundred 
years, it received the countenance of the civil 
governments. 

* See Dr Campbell's Sermon on 1 Cor, -i. 25* 



s£R. 12. OF THE GOSPEL. S81 



On the other hand, it cannot be denied, that, 
since that time, means have been often employ- 
ed to assist its progress, which have little affini- 
ty with the instruments which were originally 
selected. The bigotry and ambition of men 
have attempted to spread Christianity, by means 
to which it has no relation; sometimes by de- 
ceit and imposture, and sometimes even by force 
of arms. But every intelligent man must be 
conscious, that no visible or permanent suc- 
cess has ever been the result of means so foreign 
to the design of the gospel ,• and that even the 
protection of the civil authorities has assisted its 
progress, only by the facility which it has created, 
of communicating with every description of the 
people, and by means of the order and tranquil- 
lity, in which the Christian institutions have 
been permitted to operate. 

The enemies of Christianity are in all ages 
the same; the ambition, the sensuality, the vi- 
ces, and the superstitions pf the world; and its 
real success in any age, in opposition to them, 
is only to be ascribed to the same means, by 
which it was originally promulgated; to the 
miracles done at first in the name of the Lord ; 



382 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. l£. 

to " the foolishness of preaching, by which it 
has pleased God to save them that believe;" to 
the visible accomplishment of the ancient pro- 
phecies, in the history of the gospel ; to the 
simple modes of instruction, of which Christ and 
his apostles gave the example, or the pattern ; 
and to the influence of the Spirit of Christ on the 
minds of men. 

The continued efficacy of these means, if they 
are effectual, is, "like the spirit of prophecy/' 
" the testimony of Jesus;" a witness in every 
age, both to believers and to those who do not 
believe, " that God hath made him both Lord 
and Christ." 

Every fact which attests the progress of Chris* 
tianity in the world, by means, in their own na* 
ture so little adapted to the end, as those which 
Christ has blessed, and which bear so little ana- 
logy to the instruments by which any other 
faith has ever been supported, is a practical de* 
monstration of its original authority. It is " a 
witness," or a decisive proof, " to all nations," 
of the soundness of the counsel which Gama- 
liel gave at first to the Jews, and of the result 
of the experience, by which Gamaliel affirmed 



SER. 12. 



OF THE GOSPEL. 



383 



that Christianity ought to be fairly tried. " If 
this work were of men, it would long since have 
come to nothing,*' carried on by no other in- 
struments than those which it employs; and, as 
far as experience can ascertain its authority, we 
have also a right to conclude, that " men cannot 
overthrow it," and that, wherever they have made 
the attempt, " they have been found even to 
fight against God *." 

Success is certainly, by itself, no decisive proof 
of the authority of any doctrine ; for falsehood 
and imposture have often been successful in the 
history of the world. But success by external 
means, of which we know both the influence and 
the extent, and which bear no proportion what- 
ever to the effects produced, may not onty be 
safely, but is of necessity referred to a superior 
agency. If " the weapons of our warfare are 
not carnal but spiritual," and are notwithstand- 
ing effectual, against both the force and the ma- 
lignity of " the rulers of the darkness of this 
world," we have certainly the best reasons to 
conclude, that " they are mighty through God 



* AcVs v; 38. 39. 



384 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. 1&, 

and that, down to the present period, Christia- 
nity is proved to be " the work" of heaven. 

The effects which the gospel has produced 
on the general condition of mankind, in every 
country in which it has been planted, forms no 
inconsiderable part of its testimony " to all na- 
tions," This is a view of the subject, of which 
every well-informed man ought to be a compe? 
tent judge. 

Without taking into our consideration the in- 
fluence of Christianity on those who sincerely 
receive it, we cannot but perceive the extensive 
effects which, either by their means, or by means 
of its general spirit and tendency, it has univer- 
sally produced on the condition of those who do 
not believe; on their characters, their usages, their 
manners, and their opinions. 

It is impossible not to admit the importance of 
the light and information which Christianity has, 
brought into the world, to which we are chiefly 
indebted, not only for our release from the most 
pernicious superstitions, but for our best sources, 
of knowledge, with regard to the true interests 
and obligations of men. Every man, who has 
any knowledge of the history of the world* 



SER. 12. 



OF THE GOSPEL. 



S85 



must perceive the diffusion of principles and of 
morals among the great mass of the people, 
which was never attempted with any general 
effect before the promulgation of the gospel: 
The influence of the gospel, to attach infamy to 
the gross vices, which were almost universal be- 
fore the Christian aera: The liberal views and 
characters, with regard to one another, which 
the western nations have derived from the pub- 
lic profession of the same faith, which, before 
the propagation of Christianity, were complete- 
ly unknown ; while the world was yet divided 
betwixt Jews, or Greeks, or Romans, and the 
barbarous people of every other tribe : And fi- 
nally, the influence of Christianity, well or ill 
understood, to enlarge the sphere of active men, 
and to open the communication of the remotest 
nations, so as to create sources of wealth and 
of general prosperity, unknown to the former 
ages. 

These facts it is impossible to deny : and can* 
did men, though they are not believers, will find 
it difficult indeed, to explain them by causes, 
with which the influence of Christianity is not 
inseparably interwoven. 

P b 



386 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. 12. 

It is obvious that the public laws and institu- 
tions, which are derived from the authority or 
trom the spirit of the gospel, have an effect on 
the conditions of men and on their general cha- 
racter, quite independent of personal religion. 
It is equally certain, that the doctrines of Chris- 
tianity have an influence in regulating the opi- 
nions, in restraining the vices, and in softening 
tjie manners of mankind, not only when they 
do not produce such habitual convictions as can 
render men " wise unto salvation," but even 
when, as the doctrines of religion, they are deli- 
berately discredited and rejected. There is a 
character for intellectual acquisitions, for li- 
beral science, for commercial enterprise, for ge- 
neral urbanity, and for the virtues of domes- 
tic life, in which none of the nations of 
antiquity, and not one description of Maho- 
metans or of modern idolaters, can bear to be 
compared with the inhabitants of Christen- 
dom. Individuals of every age and country 
have surmounted every national disadvantage. 
But the general spirit of nations is not to be 
mistaken. Without forgetting either the arts 
or the philosophy of Greece and Rome, we 



SER. 12, 



OF THE GOSPEL, 



387 



must perceive, that there is an extent of general 
information, a strength of understanding and of 
character, united to an order and a refinement in 
private manners, which notwithstanding all the 
depravity of modern times, form the peculiar 
distinction of the countries in which Christianity 
is planted. Men, who take no serious interest 
in the ultimate design of the gospel as the doc- 
trine of eternal life, are imperceptibly partakers 
of the advantages, which its progress has uni- 
versally spread through the world. 

It is not pretended that the effects of the gos- 
pel on general manners are either in the same 
degree, or of the same extent, in every country 
in which Christianity is established. On the 
contrary, its influence is very different, accord- 
ing to the circumstances which have attended 
its progress. But it is affirmed with confi- 
dence, that in every country in which Chris- 
tianity is permanently established, its peculiar 
effects are so visibly distinguished in the usages 
and in the general character of the people, as 
to raise them far above every nation of men, 
civilized or barbarous, in which either the delu- 



388 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION" SER. 12. 

sions of Mahomed, or any forms of Pagan su- 
perstition prevail. If there are any exceptions 
to this fact, they can only be found in situations, 
in which, with the name of Christians, nations 
have preserved all their original ignorance or 
superstitions*. 

The influence of the spirit of Christianity on 
the state of every district of the world in which 
it is planted, is thus its perpetual <e witness" or 
testimony " to all nations." It ameliorates both 
the conditions and the characters of men, even 
when it does not reach their consciences : And 
though it is published " for salvation to the ends 
of the earth," it demonstrates its enersrv even to 
those " who count themselves unworthy of 
everlasting life." 

On this part of the subject I ought to add, 
that independent of the effects produced by the 
spirit of the gospel, the manners of those who 
sincerely embrace Christianity must have great 
influence on the situations of mankind. 

* See Dr White's Sermons ait the Bamp ton-Lecture, Serra. 
ix. in which this subject is discussed with equal minuteness 
and ability. 



SER. 12. 



OF THE GOSPEL. 



389 



The sincere believers of Christianity are in 
every country mixed with the general mass of 
the people. Amidst all the variety of their ca- 
pacities and activity, the influence of their per- 
sonal characters is imperceptibly diffused among 
those with whom they live and act, and, more 
remotely, even among those, with whom they 
have never been associated, to whom the effects 
of their conduct can extend. The personal 
virtues and the good examples, of " a multitude 
which no man can number," scattered among 
all the tribes of men who profess Christianity, 
must be admitted to have a perpetual tendency 
to ameliorate the condition of the world, to 
check the progress of corruption, to restrain the 
wickedness of the wicked, to prevent many ef- 
fects of the vices which prevail, and, " like the 
salt of the earth," to preserve to successive gene- 
rations that which is good or useful in their own 
times. The good works of a single man, en- 
lightened by knowledge, and inspired by an ha- 
bitual zeal for the glory of God and the happi- 
ness of his fellow-creatures, diffuse their influ- 
ence widely around him during his own life; 
and, by means of those whom he has been the 
instrument of training, or assisting, or reclaim- 



390 



UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. 12. 



ing, extend their effects to those who come after 
him, long after he "has been gathered to his 
fathers f and in many instances, even to remote 
countries, and to distant ages. 

If we believe this to be a fact, we must 
have enlarged conceptions indeed, of the effects 
produced by the real believers of the gospel on 
the general state of the world, on the order and 
happiness of human life, and even on the cha- 
racters and satisfactions of men " who do not 
obey the gospel of God ;" and who do not per- 
ceive the advantages, for which they are them- 
selves indebted to Christianity. 

The gospel " is preached" and believed "for 
a witness to all nations ;" and, by means of those 
who sincerely embrace it, its testimony is uni- 
versally the same in every district of the earth, 
to wit, that " they are the salt of the earth," that 
" they are the light of the world," and that 
M their light shines before men," even when men 
do not " glorify their Father who is in heaven." 

There is yet another view of the testimon} 7 of 
the gospel. The doctrines which it promul- 
gates for the renovation of the world, come 
home to the consciences of individuals ; and the 



SEU. 12. 



OF THE GOSPEL. 



391 



impressions which they produce, or the convic- 
tions of duty or of sin which they awaken, are a 
permanent witness and memorial, both of their 
importance and of their authority, among all the 
nations to whom Christ is preached. 

The doctrines of Christ are the most interest- 
ing truths, to which the understanding of man 
can be applied. We learn from him the laws 
and history of Providence, with a degree of 
energy and precision, with which our unassist- 
ed faculties would not enable us to discern them 
on the face of external nature; while the so- 
lemn truths, to which the gospel bears its pecu- 
liar testimony, involve the greatest interests of 
the human race : All, which it imports a sinful 
being to know, believe, or do ; all, which con- 
cerns our redemption from misery and sin, and 
our everlasting welfare; all, which can either 
comfort us in our fallen state, or instruct us con- 
cerning our hope in God, or direct us with re- 
gard to our present duties, or our peculiar temp- 
tations, or establish our faith in " the mercy 
of God to pardon," or, " in his grace to help 
us." 



392 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. 1£> 

The testimony of the gospel must be different, 
according to the effects which it produces on 
different men. 

It is an awful " witness for the truth of 
God," to those who harden their hearts against 
it; a testimony written in blood, that "God 
sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world," 
and that they would neither hear nor obey him ; 
u a witness" against them, through time and 
eternity, that mercy came down from heaven, 
and that they hardened themselves the more ; 
that, " according to the determinate purpose" 
and grace of God, the Son of God shed his blood 
for the redemption of the world, and that " they 
have counted the blood of the covenant an un- 
holy thing;" that with all the advantage of the 
light of the gospel, and of its impressive warn- 
ings and admonitions ; with a full consciouness 
of the grace which it promulgates to a sinful 
world* and of the hope by which it would per- 
suade them, they persist in impenitence and un- 
belief, while " there remaineth no more sacri 4 - 
fice- for sin;" that they have many strong in- 
ternal convictions of the authority of the gospel, 
and of their personal danger in resisting it, and 



SER. 12. 



OF THE GOSPEL. 



393 



yet allow themselves to persevere deliberately in 
vice> " treasuring up to themselves wrath against; 
the day of wrath.*' 

The gospel is an awful " witness to the na- 
tions/' when these are the truths to which it 
affixes the seal. Its testimony in every age and 
country is the same, concerning every hardened 
and impenitent unbeliever. It warns him of his 
danger, but it calls him to repentance. It tells 
him of the mercy of God through the blood of 
atonement, and of " the sanctification of the 
Holy Ghost f and it beseeches him to the end, 
to repent and to believe, that " he may not pe- 
rish." But it must be a decisive " witness", a- 
gainst him before God and men, if he shall live 
and die in impenitence. 

How dreadful is this testimony of the gospel, 
as it relates to the present and to the last condi- 
tion of individuals ! How awful, as it represents 
the determined infatuation of the multitude of 
sinners 1 " God set forth his Son to be the propi- 
tiation through faith in his blood," that he might 
raise us from the ruins of the fall, and save us 
from the perdition of sin and death; and 
" they have trodden under foot the Son of God, 



394 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. 12. 

and do despite unto the Spirit of Grace." — 
" Christ suffered, the just for the unjust, to bring 
us to God ;" to rouse us " to fly from the wrath 
to come," and to bring home to our conviction 
the bitterness and the guilt of sin ; " and this 
is the condemnation," written against the unbe- 
lievers of every nation, as if there were no other 
source of condemnation besides, " that light is 
come into the world, and that they have loved 
darkness rather than light, because their deeds 
are evil *." 

But the testimony of the gospel, in its most 
awful forms, is not unaccompanied with the 
most earnest and affectionate admonitions; and 
its admonitions are expressed in such words as 
these : 11 Repent and be converted, that your 
sins may be blotted out, when the times of re- 
freshing come forth from the presence of the 
Lordf." " Behold the Lamb of God, who ta- 
ke th away the sin of the world J.?? " God so 
loved the world, that he gave his only begotten 
Son, that whosoever believeth on him might not 



* St John iii. 19. 
i St John i. 29. 



f Acts iii. 



SER. 12. OF THE GOSPEL* 3Q5 

perish, but might have everlasting life " Take 
his yoke upon you, and learn of him ; for he is 
meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest 
unto your souls f." " If any of you lack wis- 
dom, let him ask of God, who giveth unto all 
men liberally, and upbraideth not ; and it shall 
be given him J." " Now is the accepted time; 
behold now is the day of salvation 

The testimony of Christianity is rendered com- 
plete, by the effects which it produces on the con- 
dition of the individuals who sincerely embrace 
it. 

By whomsoever the gospel is despised, they 
^who believe and obey it " have the witness in 
themselves," that u it is spirit and life." A good 
man, who sincerely applies Christianity to its 
practical ends, has a proof within himself, both of 
its energy and of its authority, of which nothing 
can deprive him. It enlightens his mind ; it 
subdues his passions; it settles the tumult of con- 
trary affections, and fixes his heart where his 
permanent interests are; it purifies and ennobles 



* St John id. l6. 
I James i. 5, 



f Matth. xi. 29. 
§ 2 Cor. vi. 2* 



396 



UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. 12. 



the motives of his conduct ; it effectually regu- 
lates and determines his pursuits ; it preserves 
him amidst the strongest temptations, for it raises 
him above them ; it teaches him how to enjoy 
the comforts of this life, and not only how to 
bear, but how to receive advantages from its 
afflictions; it forms his character among man- 
kind, while it combines his interests with the 
happiness of the Sons of God. Men in the 
lowest departments of human life, without liter- 
ature, and without either wealth or distinction 
in this world, have the full consciousness of these 
practical effects of the gospel, in common with 
the wisest of those who embrace it. To every 
man who is indeed a Christian, the energy, and 
therefore the authority, of Christianity, is proved, 
by his personal experience of its influence on his 
happiness and on his character, " through the 
sanctirlcation of the Spirit, and the belief of the 
truth." He is fully persuaded, by what he 
knows and feels, that " the kingdom of God is 
not in word, but in power that it is " righte- 
ousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost;" 
{( holiness to the Lord/' and fidelity to men ; 



SER. 16. OF THE GOSPEL. 39? 

tf the wisdom and the power of God unto salva- 
tion to every one who believeth." 

The faith which governs a mans life, by 
means of principles from which he derives his 
best consolations, and by expectations which en- 
able him to surmount both the fears and the real 
calamities of this world, is not to be shaken by 
the sophistry of scepticism, and much less by 
the delusions of practical infidelity. Vital Chris- 
tianity, which, by means of active holiness, "a- 
dorns the doctrine of God our Saviour in all 
things," has the proof, or " the witness" in it- 
self, among all nations. " I know," said an a- 
postle, " in whom I have believed, and I am 
persuaded that he is able to keep that which I 
have committed to him # :" " I am crucified with 
Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ 
liveth in me ; and the life which I now live in 
the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, 
who loved me and gave himself for me f ." " This 
gospel of the kingdom," will a true believer say, 
"is preached in all the world for a witness;" 
and I have the evidence within my own mind, 

* 2 Tim. i. 12. f Qalat. ii. 20. 



398 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. 



that it is not preached in vain. All that to which 
it bears testimony among the nations is verified 
to my conviction, and confirmed by my perso- 
nal experience. I am conscious of its present 
efficacy; and I look with desire, and with a full 
persuasion, to its final result in the kingdom of 
God. But my first concern, in the mean time, 
is this, that I may be honoured to contribute 
something to " the testimony of the Lord" in 
the world ; or that I may be enabled to do some- 
thing which may serve as an example " to them, 
who shall hereafter believe on him to life ever- 
lasting," or which shall assist the progress, or 
which shall prove the efficacy, of those unalter- 
able truths, in which the present and eternal in- 
terests of men are involved ; to wit, that "Christ 
is mighty to save * f that ft there is no salva- 
tion in any other f;" that "without holiness no 
man shall see the Lord J ;" that our " heavenly 
Father will give the Holy Spirit to them that ask 
him and that " the peace of God passeth all 

* Isaiah lxiii. 1. f Acts iv. 12. 

X Heb. xii. 14. § Luke xi. 13. 



SEU. 12. OF THE GOSPEL. 399 

understanding, and keeps the heart and mind 
through Christ Jesus *." 

When we take this view of the influence of 
Christianity on the minds of those who sincere- 
ly embrace it; and consider it in connexion with 
the testimony, which it impresses on the con- 
sciences even of those who reject its authority ; 
we must have a strong conviction both of the 
reality cind of the extent of the effects, produced 
by the promulgation of the gospel, in every coun- 
try to which it is sent. 

Every where it attains its ends. " The chil- 
dren of God are gathered" from all the nations, 
and have the proof within themselves, that they 
are born from on high ; " not of blood, nor of 
the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but 
of Godf ; " not of corruptible seed, but of in- 
corruptible, by the word of God, which liveth 
and abideth for ever 

On the other hand, when the gospel fails in 
persuading men, or in converting them, besides 
its external effects in restraining their depravity, 



* Philip, iv. 7. 
f 1 Peter i. 23. 



t St John i. 13. 



400 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SEll. 

and in ameliorating their conditions, it is a mo- 
nument of the truth and faithfulness of God, to 
render them without excuse, who have obsti- 
nately hardened themselves against its authority. 
The men of Tyre and Sidon, of Sodom and 
Gomorrha, "shall rise at last in judgment" against 
the unbelievers of Judea : And " the Gentiles, 
who have not the law" or the gospel, but who 
do by nature the things contained in the law," 
" shall rise in judgment" against every man to 
whom the gospel has been preached in vain. 
His advantages will only serve to aggravate his 
final condemnation ; while the merciful Redeem* 
er of the world will recognise the publican of 
Judea, and the heathen man among the Gentiles, 
*' on whose heart the work of God's law was 
written," as men " not far from the kingdom of 
heaven." 

There is a circumstance intimately connected 
with the universality of the gospel, and manifest- 
ly written on its history, which ought not to be 
omitted, in illustrating the doctrine of this text. 

We know that, in a country in which the gos- 
pel was once planted successfully, and in which 
many believers have for a time rejoiced in it* 

m 



SER. 12. 



OF THE GOSPEL. * 



401 



by the perversion or depravity of their succes- 
sors, it may at first be disfigured, and at last be 
lost. In the righteous judgment of God, it may 
be sent from them to the inhabitants of another 
country. Among these, too, it may at last be 
corrupted by similar means, till they also have 
lost its advantages, by the visitation of God. 

Of these facts, the primitive churches of Ju- 
dea, and the seven churches of Asia, are by no 
means singular examples. The history of Chris- 
tianity presents us with a multitude of facts of 
the same kind ; and the striking, though gradual, 
declension of the most flourishing Christian, 
churches, both in respect of zeal and of morals, 
is a perpetual confirmation of them. 

We are not permitted to unravel the myste-* 
ries of Providence ; nor is it necessary that we 
should be able to account for events, which we 
know to be subservient to the ends of God's 
universal government. But it is of real import- 
ance to us, that we should not be perverted by 
means of false conclusions, deduced fronVfaqts 
which are established by experience. 

Does Christianity lose its aim, in the countries 
from which it is taken away ? It collects in its 

Cc 



402 



UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION" SKR. 12. 



progress " the children of God." It " seeks and 
finds them," wherever they dwell. They are 
widely scattered; but the doctrine of salva- 
tion reaches every one of them in his place. 
When unbelievers harden their hearts, and be*. 
come more and more obstinate in " rejecting the 
counsel of God;" when "the measure of their 
iniquity is full," and "the love of many (among 
those who profess to believe) waxeth cold;" 
the gospel ceases at length to strive with them, 
and its light and glory arise on another land. 

But, even in this case, Christianity was not 
promulgated in vain. " As many as were or- 
dained to eternal life believed # ;" and their num- 
ber far exceeds our most sanguine expectations; 
while the effects of their faith are not lost among 
their children, even after they no longer enjoy 
the advantages of their fathers. 

The hardened suffer the effects of their impe- 
nitence and perversion. But " the gospel has free 
course and is glorified;" and every where believers 
are found to follow its progress. The universa* 



f Acts xiii. 48* 



SEft. 12. 



OF THE GOSPEL, 



403 



lity of its promulgation is not affected, because 
it is taken away from a degenerate and perverted 
people. It was sent to them ; and it accom- 
plishes among them the end for which it is 
published, in as far as it is a testimony for the 
truth of God, both to the believers, and to those 
who will not believe. 

Finally, " the gospel of the kingdom of God" 
is destined for every land, " for a witness to all 
nations though " it is not for us to know the 
times or the seasons, which the Father hath put 
in his own power*." The great fact we know 
with certainty ; that the testimony of the gospel 
will be at last complete ; that whatever the se- 
ries or the progress of its promulgation is, 
u Christ is set for salvation to the ends of the 
earth f that " this gospel must be preached in 
all the world ;" for judgment to those who will 
not receive it, but for " life and peace" to those 
who believe, " of every kindred and people and 
nation and language.'* 

op 

I have still to consider, 

IV. That after the gospel shall have been ef* 

* Acts i. 7. 

C c % 



404 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. 12. 

fectually promulgated to every nation under 
heaven, " then shall the end come;" or, "the 
final dissolution of the world." 

I have remarked, in the preceding discourse, 
that though our Lord is admonishing his disci- 
ples, in the chapter from which this text is taken, 
of the approaching destruction of Jerusalem, he 
intermixes with this subject intimations with re- 
gard to the final dissolution of the world, which 
were designed for every age of Christianity. 
Such a combination of different subjects, to 
which similar descriptions are applied, is by no 
means unusual in the prophetical Scriptures. 
■ I have illustrated the language of the text, as 
relating exclusively, and in its literal sense, to 
" the end of the world." I consider this as the just 
interpretation of every part of the language of this 
chapter, which cannot, in its full meaning, be 
applied to the final subversion of the Jewish state, 
or to the destruction of Jerusalem. It is scarcely 
conceivable that any such event, or any event 
of less magnitude than the dissolution of the 
world, can be connected with the following de- 
scription : " The sun shall be darkened, and the 
moon shall not give her light. The stars shall 



SER. 12. OF THE GOSPEL. 405 

fall from heaven, and the powers of the hea- 
vens shall be shaken : And then shall appear the 
sign of the Son of Man in heaven ; and then 
shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they 
shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds 
of heaven, with power and great glory : And 
he shall send his angels with a great sound of a 
trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect, 
from the four winds, from one end of heaven to 
the other # ." This description follows a very stri- 
king view, which our Lord had given of the 
circumstances which were to accompany the de- 
struction of the Jewish state; and it is intro- 
duced by the expression " immediately after the 
tribulation of those days," which is manifestly 
designed to mark the distinction between the ca- 
lamities of the Jews, and the last signals of the 
dissolution of the world. Whatever precise 
signification we affix to the words translated 
" immediately after," they ascertain this fact, 
that the description which they are employed 
to introduce, does not relate to the events 
which are before represented, and which evi? 

* Matth. xxiv. 29— 3K 



406 



UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. 12. 



dently refer to the destruction of Jerusalem : 
And though, in their natural signification, they 
convey the idea of future events, at no great dis- 
tance, the same phraseology is very commonly 
applied in the New Testament to " the end of 
the world," to represent not only the certainty 
of this awful event, but the importance of im- 
mediate preparation for 11 the judgment of the 
great day," which, at the remotest period of 
time, will find every individual man in the 
same condition, in which his spirit leaves its 
mortal tabernacle. 44 The night is far spent,"* 
says the apostle Paul to the Romans, " the 
day is at hand; let us therefore cast off the 
works of darkness, and let us put on the armour 
of light*:" And to the Philippians, " Let your 
moderation be known unto all men; the Lord 
is at hand f ." The apostle Peter expresses the 
same thing still more precisely : " The end of 
all things is at hand: Be ye therefore sober, and 
watch unto prayer J." The same phraseolo- 
gy is used in all these examples, which our Lord 
employs to represent " the end of the world" as 

* Rom. xiii. 12. t Philip, iv. 5. 

% 1 Peter iv. 7. 



SEK. 12. OF THE GOSPEL. 407 

" immediately after" the tribulation produced by 
the destruction of Jerusalem. 

It is obvious besides, that our Lord's asser- 
tion, that " of the day and hour (of which he 
spake) knoweth no man, no not the angels of 
heaven, (and as he expresses it in the parallel 
text of the gospel of Mark, neither the Son) but 
the Father only can only be applied to the 
time fixed for " the end of the world." It is, 
at least, much more natural to suppose, that 
this was really a subject of which he was then 
discoursing, than that such an assertion was in- 
troduced, merely on account of its connexion 
with a remote allusion, employed to represent 
the certainty of the destruction of Jerusalem f : 
or that it was, in any sense, intended to apply to 
this event, which our Lord had explicitly affirm- 

* Matth. xxiv. 36. Mark xuk 32. 
f This some commentators have affirmed; supposing our 
Lord's assertion to refer to no other part of his discourse, than 
to the allusion immediately preceding it; Matth. xxiv. 35. 
M Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not 
pass away J 9 



408 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SfcR. 12. 



ed, was to happen, before the extinction of " the 
generation of men then alive # ." 

That " the end of the world" was really his 
subject, as well as the calamities of the Jews, is 
moreover clearly established, by the striking ad- . 
monitions found in the conclusion of this chap- 
ter, which are far more applicable to our prepa- 
ration for the last coming of the Lord from hea- 
ven, than to any other event; and which are 
manifestly and strictly connected with the sub- 
ject of the following chapter, which, all must ad- 
mit, relates entirely to the transactions of the last 
day, and to the general judgment f. 

Adopting this interpretation J, I suppose the 

* Matth. xxiv. 34. 

f Matth. xxiv. 42— 51. Matth. xxv. 

| Bishop Butler, in his sermon on this text, which he un- 
derstands in the same sense in which the author has taken it, 
does not even make the supposition that another interpretation 
could be given. Calvin and many other expositors have 
adopted the same interpretation. 

Other commentators have no doubt applied the text exclu- 
sively to the destruction of Jerusalem, though (as the author 
thinks) without sufficient authority. 



SER. 12. OF THE GOSPEL, 40fi 



universal promulgation of Christianity to be gi- 
ven us, as one of the latest signals to be expected 
of the final dissolution of the world. 

This part of the subject does not admit of mi- 
nute illustrations. We rely on the assertion of 
the gospel with regard to " the end of the 
world," without being ignorant, that unbelievers, 
in every age of the church of Christ, are willing 
to adopt the language, ascribed by the apostle 
Peter to the men of the first age ; " saying, 
where is the promise of his coming? for since 
the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as 
they were # ." We believe that " the end will 
certainly come," at the time " appointed by the 
Father and that the events, which are to go 
before it, will happen in succession, at the pe- 
riods, and in the order, represented to us in the 
prophetical Scriptures. We know, too, that 
there will be unbelievers in the last days, whose 
obstinacy will not be overcome, till the general 
conflagration shall overwhelm them. 

The universal promulgation of the gospel is 



* 2 Peter iii. 4. 



410 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION SER. 12. 

to be regarded as the signal to prepare for the 
dissolution of the world. 

When the gospel shall have fully attained its 
purpose; when the kingdom of Christ shall 
have established its triumph over every su- 
perstition and idolatry ; when the multitude of 
believers shall be complete, collected from all 
the tribes of Jews and Gentiles ; when all the 
Scripture shall be fulfilled concerning the Mes- 
siah's reign on earth, and " all his enemies 
shall be put under his feet * when the tes- 
timony of the gospel shall have been given to 
all nations, according to the true intention of 
its Author ; and when " the earth shall be fill- 
ed with the knowledge of the Lord as the 
waters cover the sea f " then shall the end 
come." " The Son of Man shall then come, in 
the glory of his Father, with his angels J." " He 
shall send his angels — to gather his elect from 
one end of heaven to the other ||." " The dead 
in Christ shall rise first but " all that are in 



* 1 Cor. xv. 25. 
X Matth. xvi. 27. 
§ 1 Thes. iv. 16. 



•f Isaiah xi. 9» 
II Matth. xsiv. 31 



SEll. ]2> 



OF THE GOSPEL. 



41! 



their graves shall hear his voice*." " The dead 
shall then be judged," f small and great f" 
" The ransomed of the Lord shall return and 
come to Zion with songs, and with everlasting 
joy upon their heads J." " The wicked shall be 
turned into hell, and all the nations who forget 
God." 

" Then shall the heavens pass away with a 
great noise, and the elements shall melt with 
fervent heat ; the earth also, and the works that 
are therein, shall be burnt up. Then shall -all 
these things be dissolved §." The dispensations 
of God on earth shall then be closed for ever. 
" The Son shall deliver up the kingdom to God, 
even the Father, and God shall be all in allfl." 

* Amen." " Hallelujah!" " For the Lord 
God omnipotent reignethlf." The redemption 
of man will then be complete. " Death and 
hell shall then be cast into the lake of fire **." 
The everlasting song shall then begin among the 



* St John v. 28. 
£ Isaiah xxxv. 10. 
|| 1 Cor. xv. 24. 28. 
** Rev. xx. 14. 



f Rev. xx. 12. 

§2 Peter iii. 10. 11. 

fl" Rev. xix. 6. 



412 UNIVERSAL PROMULGATION, &C. SEU. 12. 

Sons of God: " Blessing, and honour, and glory, 
and power, to him who sits upon the throne 3 
and to the Lamb for ever and ever # ." 



* Rev. v. 13, 



SERMON XIII. 

PROSPECTS OF FUTURITY. 



MATTHEW XXvi. 29* 

I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of 
this fruit of the vine, until that day when I 
drink it new with you in my Fathers king- 
dom? 



This text was originally addressed by our Lord 
to his disciples, on the night which immediately 
preceded his death. It is expressed in metapho- 
rical language, and was evidently designed to 
prepare them for the prospect of an immediate 
separation from him, by directing their expecta- 
tions to a state of things, far more perfect than 
any which they had yet experienced, for which 
that event was to pave the way. 



414 PROSPECTS OF SER. 13. 

It might refer to the time, when the dispen- 
sation of the gospel (which the New Testament 
often calls " the kingdom of God") was to he 
completely established. It makes a part of our 
Lord's discourse to his disciples, when he insti- 
tuted the holy ordinance of " the Lord's sup- 
per;" and, when connected with the events 
which that solemnity was designed to comme- 
morate, might refer to the time subsequent to his 
death, resurrection, and ascension, when his discw 
pies " were to be all filled with the Holy Ghost," 
and " to be endowed with power from on high." 
On this supposition, " the kingdom of the Fa- 
ther" would signify the dominion of Christ on 
earth, which was to be effectually established by 
the mission of the apostles, to preach the gospel 
to all nations ; and the powers and gifts, with 
which they were to be inspired, would be repre- 
sented by " the new wine" of the kingdom of 
God. 

This interpretation receives some countenance 
from the parallel text in the gospel of Luke, 
which is not only connected with " the Lord's 
supper," but with the feast of the passover, ce- 
lebrated at the same time : an institution, which 
typically represented the events which " the 



SER. 13. 



FUTURITY. 



415 



Lord's supper" was intended to commemorate, 
testifying before hand the sufferings of Christ, 
and the glory which should follow :" " With 
desire I have desired to eat this passover with 
you before I suffer : for I say unto you, I will 
not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in 
the kingdom of God." Our Lord then " took 
the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, 
and divide it among yourselves: For I say un- 
to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine 
until the kingdom of God shall come*." 

From the language and the arrangement of 
this representation, there is at least some plausi- 
bility in supposing, that the events, " to be ful- 
filled in the kingdom of God," were those which 
the passover prefigured, and that " the kingdom 
of God" is therefore a general expression, to 
signify the effectual establishment of the domi- 
nion of Christ on earth, by the dispensation of 
the gospel. 

This interpretation Vould no doubt suggest to 
us a very important assertion, announced at a 
time, when it was calculated to make a strong 
impression on those whom our Lord addressed ; 

* Luke xxii. 15—18, 



416 



PROSPECTS OF 



SER. 13. 



an assertion with regard to the ultimate success, 
and permanent consolations of the gospel, in 
which the sincere believers of Christianity will 
always feel themselves to be deeply interested. 
But I am persuaded that the idea, which our 
Lord intended at this time to convey to his dis-» 
ciples, goes far beyond it, 

I think that " the kingdom of my Father *,'* 
" my Father's house f," " the kingdom of our 
Father J," are expressions which the New Testa* 
ment employs to signify, exclusively, the king- 
dom of God in heaven, to be established at 
the restitution of all things, " when the Son shall 
have delivered the kingdom to the Father § 
or, that state of future happiness and perfection 
in the invisible world, in which the dominion of 
God will be complete and universal ; and which 
those, who believe and obey the gospel, will at 
last enjoy together. 

On that night in which the last scene of his 
sufferings began, our Lord expressed the utmost 
solicitude to comfort his disciples in the view of 



• St Matth. xxvi. 29* 
t St Matth. xiii, 43. 



f St John xiv. 2. 
f 1 Cor. xv. 24. 



SEtf. 13. FUTURITY. 417 

their approaching separation from him, by con- 
siderations adapted to their state of mind ; and 
in particular, by holding* out to them the assu- 
rance that their separation from him was not to 
be perpetual, and by giving them the direct 
prospect of being again restored to his society. 
He spake of his glorious exaltation in the ever- 
lasting kingdom of the Father, and of the time 
when they were to be united to him again, He 
represented to them, with earnestness and affec^ 
tion, the happy state of being, in which they 
were again to enjoy his personal presence ; and 
in which their intercourse with him, more per- 
fect than it had ever been, was to last through 
eternal ages. " Let not your heart be troubled ; 
ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my 
Father's house are many mansions: If it were 
not so, I would have told you ; I go to pre- 
pare a place for you : And if I go and pre- 
pare a place for you, I will come again, and 
receive you unto myself, that where I am, 
there ye may be also*." He expressed the 
same idea in the pathetic intercession address* 



n St John xiv. 1. 2.-3. 



418 



PROSPECTS OF 



SER. 15. 



ed to his Father, with which his discourses on 
this solemn night were concluded. " I have 
glorified thee on the earth : I have finished the 
work which thou gavest me to do : And now, 
O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, 
with the glory which I had with thee before the 
world was*;" adding, what this part of his 
prayer sufficiently explains, " Father, I will, that 
they also whom thou hast given me, be with 
me where I am, that they may behold my glory 
which thou hast given me : For thou lovedst me 
before the foundation of the world j\" It is in 
correspondence with the whole spirit and struc- 
ture of these animated expressions^that I sup- 
pose the text to have been intended by our Lord, 
to comfort his disciples with regard to their se- 
paration from him, by conveying to them, along 
with the intimation of his death, a direct and 
positive assurance, that they were to rejoin him 
"in his Father's kingdom," and that there, their 
intercourse with him would be certain and per- 
petual, "I say unto you, I will not drink hence- 
forth of this fruit of the vine, until that day, 



• St John xvii. 4. 5. 



f St John xvii. 24. 



SER. 13. 



FUTURITY. 



419 



when I drink it new with you in my Father's 
kingdom.'* 

If this is a just view of the text, its applica- 
tion to our conditions, and the consolations 
which it may suggest to us, are both obvious 
and striking. 

We enjoy many satisfactions together in the 
present life. But the time for possessing them 
is short; and no individual knows, with regard 
to himself, how short it is. We are certain, that 
nothing which we possess is permanent, which 
cannot be referred, either by its effect or by its 
result, to the world to come. And we believe, 
that there is a state of being, after this life, in 
which all that is good and pure will be at last 
united ; in which every good man will find his 
place among his kindred spirits ; in which Christ 
" shall be glorified in his saints and in which 
" God shall be all in all." If we can believe, 
that our Lords address to his disciples in the 
text can, in any event, be directed to ourselves, 
we ought to derive from this persuasion, the 
most animating and soothing impressions, of 
which a good man can at any time be con- 
scious. 



420 



PKOSPECTS OF 



SER. 13. 



I shall, iii discoursing on the text, consider it, 
in the three following: lights : 

1. It reminds those who believe and obey the 
gospel, of the confidence and persuasion, with 
which they are warranted to look forward to the 
everlasting " kingdom of the Father." 

2. It reminds them, that though they must 
soon relinquish whatever they possess in this 
world, there is a time approaching, when their 
best satisfactions shall be both revived and per- 
fected. And, 

3. It reminds them, that though the time of 
their departure from this world should be near, 
when they must sleep in the dust of the earth, 
they are certain that their spirits will not die; 
and that they shall awake " to glory and to an 
endless life" in " the kingdom of the Father." 

Let us consider, 

I. That our Lord's declaration in this text, if 
we suppose that it can be in any circumstances 
directed to us, ought to remind us of the confi- 
dence and persuasion, with which we are war- 
ranted to look forward to the everlasting " king- 
dom of the Father." 



SER. 13. 



FUTURITY. 



421 



" The kingdom of the Father" conveys to us 
the idea of a state of existence beyond this life, 
which good men will at last enjoy together, in 
which the dominion of God and of goodness 
will be complete and universal ; in which pure 
and faithful men will be associated with the 
highest order of created beings; in which the 
powers and virtues of every individual will both 
attain their utmost progressive perfection, and 
receive their full reward ; in which every human 
faculty will be fully occupied, and applied to its 
proper objects; in which every man will serve 
God in his own place, with an enlightened 
mind, and a perpetual ardour; in which every 
individual will find his kindred spirits, and 
dwell with them in everlasting purity and 
love; in which, though their capacities may 
even then be different, every man's happiness 
wilt be complete, and every man's cup will 
be full; and in which, whatever they possess 
will last for ever, or will attain a new or increas- 
ing perfection, through eternal ages. This is 
" the kingdom of the Father." 

But there is an important fact to be added to 
this representation. The Son of God will be 



422 



PROSPECTS OF 



SER. 13. 



there, " in his own glory *," and u in the glory 
of his Father f," " He who liveth, and was 
dead, and who is alive for evermore J," "He 
who hath redeemed us to God by his blood §,"— 
He who, when he left his disciples in the world, 
referred them to the day, when H they were to 
be with him where he is," when M he was to 
drink with them new wine in the kingdom of his 
Father." He shall be there, with all who are his; 
with " the multitude which no man can num- 
ber, " " of all nations, and kindreds, and people, 
and tongues, who shall stand before the throne, 
and before the Lambf." Their intercourse with 
him shall be the tender and endearing intercourse 
of love. He shall there apportion to every one 
of them his proper olfice, and his full employ- 
ment. He shall place every one of them among 
his fellows ; and shall give to every individual 
his peculiar joy. He shall present them all, in 
the presence of his Father, pure and happy, 
r< kings and priests * V anc ^ " Sons of God." 

* Luke ix. 26. ' f Matth. xvi. 27. 

% Rev. i. 18. § Rev. v, g. 

•J Rev. vii. <?. ** Rev. v. 10. 



SEIi. IS* FUTURITY. 423 

This is the reign of Christ and of the saints, 
in " the kingdom which cannot be moved # ." 
There nothing shall ever rise to resist the domi- 
nion of God, or to awaken, among those who 
shall inherit everlasting life, one painful or cheer- 
less recollection. 

It is delightful to mortal creatures, to be able 
to look with desire " to the kingdom of the 
Father." It is far more delightful, to be able to 
jive in the present world, under a full persua- 
sion, that there is such a condition of human 
beings approaching, to which we are warranted 
to aspire, and which is certain as the faithfulness 
of God ; under a persuasion, that there is such a 
perfection of mind, and such an extent of moral 
and intellectual faculties, which every individual 
man may at last attain; and that there is such 
a glorious society preparing among the Sons of 
God, and such 11 a fulness of joy," which is to suc- 
ceed our pilgrimage on earth, and which we are 
to possess together through the ages of eternity. 

The hope of this blessed state, as " the an- 
chor of the soul, sure and stedfastf," is enough 



* Heb. xii. 28» 



t Heb. vi. 19. 



424 



PROSPECTS OF 



SER. 13. 



to compensate every sorrow of the present life; 
all its infirmities and disappointments; the ut- 
most injustice and malignity of the world ; the 
afflictions which have most embittered our spi- 
rits ; and even the melancholy experience which 
convinces us, that in this world there is nothing 
either permanent or sure. 

It revives and invigorates the soul of man, to 
look forward, with full persuasion and confi- 
dence, beyond the shifting and clouded scenes 
of mortality, to their final result and end in 
<c the kingdom of the Father :" To the pure and 
permanent happiness which we are taught to 
expect, as the ultimate effects of the vicissitudes 
and the discipline experienced in the present 
life: To the mansions of perpetual joy, "set be- 
fore us" to sustain our courage, while we dwell 
in tabernacles of clay: To our final association 
with " the spirits of just men made perfect," 
who have already overcome the sorrows which 
they experienced in the flesh, and who are now, 
with " the innumerable company of angels," 
before " the presence of the Father :" To the 
last triumphs of death and sin, of which the Son 
of God assures us, who was himself " made 



13. 



FUTURITY. 



425 



perfect through sufferings and who now 
says to us from heaven, that "if we be dead with 
him, we shall also live with him," and that, " if 
we suffer with him, we shall also reign with 
him f To our participation of the glory of 
the great day, when " the end shall come; when 
the Son shall have delivered up the kingdom to 
God even the Father, after he shall have put 
down all rule, and all authority, and power!;" 
when we shall derive our happiness from our 
perpetual union and subjection to " the King 
eternal, immortal, and invisible §;" and when 
our voice shall be heard among " the hosts of 
heaven," who " fail down and worship God 
who sits upon the throne, saying, Amen, Alle- 
luias'—for the Lord God omnipotent reign- 

«tb|.--:< # 

" If we hope for that we see not, then do 
we with patience wait for it ^[." u Believing we 
rejoice, with joy unspeakable and full of glo- 

* Heb.ii. 10. t 2 Tim. ii. 11. 12. 

% 1 Cor. xv. 24. § 1 Tim. i. 17. 

H Rev. xix. 4. 6. f Rom. viii. 25. 



426 



PROSPECTS OF 



SER. IS. 



ry We shall be happy indeed, when even 
our sufferings and our struggles shall be forgot- 
ten in our joy. Who shall be able to think of 
sorrows, which return no more, when every man 
shall be placed in his own sphere, in possession, 
not only of the full extent, but of the complete 
effect, of his faculties in their most animated 
state; associated with the purest spirits in the 
intelligent creation, and destined to glorify the 
God of Heaven through eternal ages ? 

.Do not these prospects of " the Fathers 
kingdom," and the certainty with which they 
are announced to us, suggest the strongest con- 
siderations to influence our present conduct, and 
to excite our ardour in our present duties? Do 
we not perceive, that it ought to be the first ob- 
ject of solicitude to every human being, " to 
work out his salvation," and to make it sure: 
To allow nothing in the present life, nothing in 
the temper of his mind, nothing in his pursuits 
or in his affections, to deprive him of the high 
hopes which are given him beyond the grave? 



1 Peter i. 8. 



SER. 13. FUTURITY. 427 

Do we not feel the obligation impressed on our 
consciences, " to live by the faith of the Son of 
God," and " to keep ourselves unspotted from 
the world;" To be faithful, to the utmost extent 
of our capacities, " in that which is committed 
to us ;" and to consider every thing, which can 
ever be attached to our present conditions, as 
subordinate and subservient to our permanent 
interests in " the kingdom which cannot be mo- 
ved r" 

It is humbling and awful to know, that there 
are intelligent men, who take their portion in 
the present world, as the only source of their 
happiness or solicitude, and who aspire after 
nothing in the kingdom of God : human crea- 
tures, who banish immortality and heaven from 
their thoughts, and deliberately barter, for the 
fleeting pleasures or pursuits of this transitory 
life, every expectation beyond it. 

There cannot be a more dreadful reflection 
awakened in the human mind, than that which 
certainly awaits these unhappy men, " except 
they repent that the hope of immortality and 
of salvation by Jesus Christ, was once held out to 
them, and held out to them in vain. Their pre- 



428 



PROSPECTS OF 



SER. 13. 



sent state of mind is a melancholy anticipation 
of the final result of their conduct. " The God 
of this world," says the apostle Paul, "hath blind- 
ed the minds of them who believe not, lest the 
light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the 
image of God, should shine unto them De- 
liberate impenitence confirms their habits, till at 
last, " being past feeling, they give themselves f " 
up to a reprobate mind, " lest they should see with 
their eyes, or hear with their ears, or understand 
with their hearts, or be converted, or be healed J." 
They take to themselves the license of a world- 
ly mind; but " their glory is in their shame 
and " they know not what they do." 

We cannot take this view of human charac- 
ters without deep regret and solicitude. But, 
on the other hand, it is equally interesting and 
consolatory, to contemplate the prospects of 
those, who hear not the gospel in vain, " whom 
the God of hope hath filled with all peace and 
joy in believing," and who, amidst all the in fir* 



* 2 Cor. iv. 4. ' f Ephcs. iv. 1.9. 

j Matth. xi'iu 15. § Philip, iii. 1.9. 



SER. 13. FUTURITY. 429 

mi ties of the present life, " abound in hope, 
through the power of the Holy Ghost*." 

Their interest in " the kingdom of God" 
equally determines their personal conduct, and 
regulates their views of the present life. " They 
are saved by hope f ." They live for the world 
which lasts for ever. " They go from strength 
to strength; till every one of them appears in 
Zion before God |." Their faith every day 
penetrates farther " within the vail, whither the 
forerunner is for us entered It sheds light 
and peace around all their lot. It sustains their 
courage through life and death. It enables them 
to become to one another the instruments of 
mutual animation and fortitude, during their pil- 
grimage together : And it impresses this con- 
viction deeply on their minds, that their interests 
in the kingdom of God are permanent and cer- 
tain ; that all their hope will be at last re- 
alised ; that " their labour is not in vain in the 
Lord ||;" and that " in due season, they shall, 
reap, if they faint not^f." 



* Rom. xv. 13. 
I Psalm lxxxiv. 7« 
y 1 Cor. xv. 58. 



f Rom. viii. 24. 
§ Heb. vi. 19. 20. 
f Galat. vi. 9* 



430 



PROSPECTS OF 



SER. 13. 



Let us consider, 

IL That this text reminds those who believe 
the gospel, that, though they must soon relin- 
quish every thing which they possess in the pre- 
sent world, there is a time approaching, when 
their best satisfactions shall be both revived and 
perfected. 

This idea is naturally suggested to us, if we 
suppose that our Lord intended to admonish his 
disciples, that they were no longer to have ac- 
cess to the intimate and personal intercourse with 
him which they had hitherto enjoyed, till they 
should follow him through death into the invi- 
sible world, and be reunited to him in his Fa- 
ther's kingdom. Conscious of the happiness 
which he had given them, and which they had 
enjoyed in common, from the time when they 
became his disciples, it was impossible for them, 
in receiving this intimation, to resist the impres- 
sions of sorrow. It was impossible, above all, 
for " the disciple whom Jesus loved," and who 
at that moment " leaned on his bosom*," not 
to be melted by the tenderest recollections, when 



* &t John xiii. 2& 



SEil. 13, 



FUTURITY". 



431 



he heard from him these solemn words : " I say 
unto you, I will not henceforth drink of this 
fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it 
new with you in my Fathers kingdom." 

The situation of our Lord's disciples gives us 
a striking view of our circumstances in the pre* 
sent world. There is nothing in our possession, 
which we shall not be required to relinquish, 
whatever our regrets may be, or the pressure on 
our strongest affections. The moment when we 
think our satisfactions at their height, or when 
we are preparing to enjoy them in tranquillity, 
is not seldom found to have given the signal of 
happiness departing i of happiness departing, to 
return no more, in this vale of mortality and 
change. 

The recollection of past enjoyments, which 
are no longer in our possession, cannot but be 
interesting. It will always awaken our strong- 
est feelings, to remember those who have loved 
us, who now sleep in the dust; the companions 
of our youth, or the friends of our age ; our pa- 
rents, whom we reverenced as our first benefac- 
tors ; or our children, whom we loved with the 
tenderest affections ; those wh6 once knew 1 " our 



43$ 



PROSPECTS OF 



SER. 13. 



hearts as they were, whom we see no more. It 
is impossible to consider, without emotion, how 
much we were once interested in those whom 
we remember with these impressions ; or how 
much real happiness they either contributed to 
impart to us, or were permitted to participate in 
our society. 

Such a recollection is not to be resisted : The 
recollection of satisfactions, endeared to us, by 
their relation to our most important duties, and 
to our best affections. 

The happiness which we derive, even from 
the acts of religion, or from good works, is as far 
from being uniformly the same, as any other le- 
gitimate source of our enjoyments in this world: 
And a time must at last come, when even this 
we can no longer possess, as we have once pos- 
sessed it. The source of our communion with 
God is permanent, though our capacity for en- 
joying it, in the present life, has its appointed li- 
mits, and must of necessity be often exhausted. 
But when we are conscious, that our ardour is 
no more what it was, we look back with me- 
lancholy reflections, on the delight which we 
could once receive from the prayer of faith, the 



3ER. 13. 



FUTURITY, 



# 

433 



labour of love, or the patience of hope, while 
God answered us in the joy of our hearts; and 
are too often in danger of pursuing these reflec- 
tions beyond their proper limits. 

The consolation, which Christianity opposes 
to all such recollections or regrets, is founded on 
this important fact, that there is a future state of 
being, in which every enjoyment worthy of our 
rational nature will be revived and perfected; 
or, in the language of this text, will be refined 
and enriched, as " new wine in the Father's 
kingdom." 

We have no difficulty in anticipating the re- 
vival and perfection of the advantages resulting 
from the acts of religion. We think, with con- 
fidence, also, of the happiness to be enjoyed in a 
state of existence, in which every intelligent be- 
ing will be pure, and in which nothing can be 
wrong; in which every affection will be good, 
and every virtue perfect; in which the image 
of the eternal God will be completely impressed 
on his rational offspring. We follow in our 
thoughts the unmixed delights, which are now 
enjoyed by " the spirits of just men made per- 
fect and we can look forward, with sensible 



V 



434 



PROSPECTS OF 



SER. 13. 



emotion, to the time, when our faculties will not 
be inferior to theirs, or when we shall be en- 
lightened and pure, like them. 

But we are not to suppose, that the happi- 
ness of futurity is only to be derived from acts 
of religion, or from the possession of personal 
virtues ; or that the condition of men in the 
eternal world, is to be so completely different 
from their present state, as to exclude the rer 
storation or revival of any source of substantial 
happiness, enjoyed in this life, which is worthy 
of our rational nature. 

It is certain that on this subject we cannot 
speak with precision or confidence; and that we 
can only form our judgment from such analo- 
gies, as are suggested by reason, or warranted 
by Christianity. 

The most important occupations, and the 
most essential sources of happiness, which be- 
long to good men, in the present world, have a 
direct relation to the world to come. They are 
designed to qualify them for occupations, or for 
enjoyments in the kingdom of God, much 
more excellent and refined, but not entirely 
dissimilar in their nature. The wine of the 



SER. 13. futurity. 435 

Fathers kingdom " is new," hut still it is wine. 
It is adapted to the nature of man, and though 
of a far superior quality, has a certain relation, 
or analogy, to that which he can relish or pos- 
sess, in " the house of his pilgrimage." 

We enter naturally into the happiness which 
we suppose to arise, in the invisible world, from 
the progress and perfection qf the human mind. 
We anticipate, without an effort, the enjoyments 
resulting from the full exercise of our faculties, 
in their most perfect state, on the variety of the 
works of God. And why may we not suppose, 
that those who have, in this life, derived their 
chief delight, and their most important occupa- 
tions, from the culture and exertion of their in- 
tellectual powers, will, in a more eminent de- 
gree, than men whose minds have been diffe- 
rently directed, derive from the same sources, 
both their peculiar employments, and the hap- 
piness resulting from them; after they shall have 
risen to a superior order of intelligent spirits, and. 
shall be in a capacity to contemplate, with en- 
larged and vigorous faculties, the expanded and 
eternal glory, which is veiled from mortal eyes? 

E e 2 



436 



PROSPECTS OF 



SEIt. 13. 



We can imagine, in like manner, that those 
who receive their chief satisfactions in this world, 
from the exercise of kind affections, or from 
good works; from the ardour with which they 
assist other men, or from their usefulness and fi- 
delity in the Lord, will receive a proportional 
distinction and pre-eminence in the world to 
come. We can believe that this will be the 
fact, not merely in respect of the relation which 
the fulness of their reward will bear to their past 
service, but also, because their peculiar joys, in 
the kingdom of heaven, will result from the pro- 
gress and perfection of the same general charac- 
ter, which distinguishes them in the present life; 
because they are destined to become the ardent 
and active instruments of happiness to other 
worlds, or will be permitted to assist the service, 
and to add to the enjoyments, of the blessed spi- 
rits, with whom they are at last to dwell. 

In this view of the subject, it is natural to 
imagine, that the attachments and recollections 
of the present life will not be lost in the king- 
dom of heaven. The gospel uniformly con- 
nects the happiness of glorified saints, with their 
association together, and with the multitude of 



SER. 13. 



FUTURITY. 



437 



those who are employed in the same occupa- 
tions, or enjoy the same felicity. The apostles 
speak of those who are " their hope, their joy, 
their crown of rejoicing, their glory, at the com- 
ing of our Lord Jesus Christ * :" And " they 
that be wise," are affirmed " to shine as the 
brightness of the firmament, and they that turn 
many to righteousness, as the stars, forever and 
everf." Our Lord refers his disciples to the 
day when " he will drink new wine with them, 
in the kingdom of his Father;" and he trans- 
mits it as a fact to every age of the world, that, 
among those whom he selected for his personal 
intercourse on earth, there was one disciple J, 
and one family §, whom he loved, with a pe- 
culiar kindness and affection. 

These circumstances render it at least a pro- 
bable, as it is a delightful, supposition, that those 
who have been endeared to us, by the affections 
of the present life, will be peculiar objects of 
our attention in a happier world. The chief 
felicity of glorified saints is no doubt derived 

* 1 Thes. ii. 19. 20. f Dan « x »- % 

$ St John xiii. 23. § St John xi. 5. 



i 



438 



PROSPECTS OF 



SER, 13. 



from their communion with " the everlasting: 
Father," " of whom are all things," and with 
" the only begotten of the Father, by whoih are 
all things." Every individual creature, in " the 
Father's kingdom," will besides be qualified to 
promote the happiness of those with whom he 
is associated; and, bearing " the image of the in- 
visible God," will himself be an object of gene- 
ral kindness and affection. But we are notwith- 
standing permitted, or naturally led, to believe, 
that those to whom we have been intimately 
united in the present life, and Who are with us 
" partakers of the glory hereafter to be reveal- 
ed," will be in a peculiar degree, or in a man- 
ner peculiar to themselves, the companions of 
our service, or the associates in our happiness. 

The manner in which we are to exist, after 
the resurrection of the dead, may have more a- 
nalogy to our present state, than we can now 
venture to affirm : And, on the other hand, it is 
equally certain, that many of the objects of our 
present affections, on which we set a value be- 
yond their worth, and which we allow ourselves 
to regret in vain, will be ultimately lost to us, 
because they cannot enter into " the kingdom 



SER. 13. 



FUTURITY, 



439 



of Christ and of God." But it is a sufficient con- 
solation to believe, that all the happiness, which 
we have at present good reason, either to value or 
to regret, and which is capable, from its nature 
and substance, of being renewed in the invisible 
world, will be at last restored to us in a better 
form, than that in which we have enjoyed it in 
this life. We shall possess it without interrup- 
tion for ever, incorporated with the views, and 
with the happiness of superior beings. Like the 
seraphims who execute the decrees of God, and 
proclaim his glory, we shall go to our appointed 
service with those, who are destined to take the 
most afTectionate interest in our felicity. The 
fidelity, which was begun on earth, will be per- 
fected in heaven ; and the service, which is be- 
yond the sphere of mortal beings, will be the 
signal of everlasting union and activity among 
the Sons of God, 
Let us now consider* 

III. That this text reminds those who believe 
and obey the gospel, that though the time of 
their departure from this world should be near, 
when they must sleep in the dust of the earth, 
they are certain that their spirits will not die ; 



440 



PROSPECTS OF 



SER. 13, 



and that they shall awake " to glory and to an 
endless life," " in the kingdom of the Father." 

It is wisely ordered by the constitution of our 
nature, and is necessary, both for the purposes 
of the present life, and for our effectual prepara- 
tion for a higher state of existence, that every 
man should have a strong and a perpetual aver- 
sion to the dissolution of his body, and should 
also remain in ignorance of the time when he is 
to experience that event. We should not be 
qualified, either to fulfil our present duties, or to 
accomplish the ends of our probation, if we were 
not, on the one hand, impelled by our feelings 
to defend ourselves against the approaches of 
death ; and did not believe, on the other, that 
our interests in this world are of sufficient impor- 
tance and permanency, to excite both our ar- 
dour and our perseverance. 

It is equally certain, and of equal importance 
to our essential duties, that every man receives 
perpetual admonitions of the uncertainty of the 
time allotted him in this world. In the pro- 
gress of human life, we have an irresistible con- 
sciousness of our gradual approach to our last 
decline : And individuals, at very different pe- 



SER. IS, 



FUTURITY, 



441 



riods, have still more direct intimations, that 
" the time of their departure is at hand." 

Strong impressions on this subject are of the 
most solemn kind ; and we are too apt to anti- 
cipate, with every melancholy reflection, the 
minute circumstances of our approaching disso- 
lution. We consider, with irresistible impa- 
tience, that all that is now before our sight, will 
completely disappear; that the light of day will 
close on us for ever ; that we shall leave behind 
us every object of our tenderness, and every 
thing in this world, which has ever occupied our 
thoughts or engaged our hearts ; that we shall 
go alone into the chambers of death, insensible 
and unconscious of every thing, wrapt up in the 
dust of the earth ; and that our bodies, dissolved 
and separated there, will be as completely mixed 
with the elements of matter, as if they had never 
had a relation to intelligent minds. 

It is a dreadful reflection, if we had no conso- 
lation to balance it, that this scene of horror is 
preparing for us all ; and that no individual can 
have any security, that the time is not at hand, 
when it shall be fully realised in his own expe- 
dience. From the aged it cannot be distant : 



442 



PROSPECTS OF 



SER. 13. 



But every one of us must know, that the sum- 
mons to die, may reach us as effectually in the 
morning or in the vigour of life, as when it is 
not issued till the evening-tide. 

The text was originally addressed to the 
apostles : " I say unto you, I will not henceforth 
drink of this fruit of the vine, until that day 
when I drink it new with you, in my Father's 
kingdom. " But if we can imagine it to be in 
any circumstances directed to ourselves, because 
" the time of our departure" is not distant, or 
because we have good reason to view our death 
as approaching, we are at least authorized to 
consider it, as holding out a consolation, suffi~ 
cient to compensate to us for every humbling or 
awful circumstance, in the event of which it fore- 
warns us. It saysy that our spirits shall not 
die, although their " mortal tabernacle" is dis- 
solved : It says, that our spirits shall continue t£ 
think, to act, and to enjoy, notwithstanding their 
separation from our bodily organs. It says, that 
our spirits shall pass directly, from their embo- 
died state, into the presence of the Lord, to ex- 
ist, where he is, " in his Father's kingdom." 
It says, that though, after the death of thebody^ 



5ER. 13. 



FUTURITY. 



443 



we must cease to exercise the senses, from which 
we derive our present knowledge of external 
nature, we shall find ourselves immediately sur- 
rounded by the glories of a greater world, and 
by a multitude of pure and glorious spirits, ma- 
ny of whom were once the companions of our 
pilgrimage in this world, who have gone before 
us to our Father's house. It says besides, that 
the most humbling circumstances in the dissolu- 
tion of the body, do not leave us without the 
hope of its restoration. The resurrection of the 
dead, at the second "coming of the Lord from 
heaven, when " all who are in their graves shall 
hear his voice*," is held out to us by the gospel, 
to render our prospects in the invisible world 
complete. Our bodies, raised from the dead, 
"spiritual and incorruptible!," "like to the 
glorified body of the Son of God J," will be 
united for ever to our immortal spirits, "and so 
shall we be ever with the Lord§." 

When I suppose the text to refer us to these 
consolatory views of death and futurity, I sup- 
pose the language in which it is expressed, to 

* St John v. 28. f 1 Cor. xv. 42. 44. 

t Pbilip. iii. 21. § 1 Thes. iv. 17. 



444 PROSPECTS OF SER. 13. 

be illustrated by the doctrine of " life and im- 
mortality, brought to light," and expanded by 
<e the gospel." 

Our knowledge on this subject cannot be mi- 
nute, and must be confined to general facts. 
But why should we refuse to be comforted, or 
why should our hearts sink within us, though 
" the time of our departure" should be near? 
" We know that our Redeemer liveth," and that 
his dominion is greater than the powers of death 
and hell. We are certain that " he is risen from 
the dead," and " that he shall stand at the last 
day on the earth*." His resurrection is both 
the pattern, and the assured pledge of ours. 
" We know," says an apostle, " that he which 
raised up the Lord Jesus, shall raise up us also 
by Jesus f." " We have not," therefore, "re- 
ceived the spirit of bondage or of fear; but we 
have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we 
cry, Abba Father % :" For " we are all the 
children of God, by faith in Christ Jesus 
" and if children, then heirs ; heirs of God, 



* Job xix. 25. 
% Rom. viii. 1 5» 



f 2 Cor. iv. 14. 
§ Galat. iii. 26. 



SER. 13. 



FUTURITY, 



445 



and joint heirs with Christ; if so be, that we 
suffer with him, that we may be also glorified 
together # ." 

The certainty of the immortality of the spirit, 
and of the resurrection of the dead, is supported 
by evidence as complete, as the nature of the 
subject admits of; and ought to afford those 
who believe the gospel most effectual consola- 
tions, under the sense of their mortality, 

I have already said so much of the happiness 
of glorified spirits, and of their association toge- 
ther, after the resurrection of the dead, that it is 
not necessary to pursue this view of the subject 
farther. 

But why should our minds be shaken, or why 
should our courage fail us, though the hour of 
our death should be approaching? u Our times 
are wholly in the hand of God." It is of much 
more importance to every individual man, than 
length of days, or than any duration or degree 
of prosperity in this world, that, while he lives, 
" he should live by the faith of the Son of God," 
in dutiful subjection to the Father of his spirit^ 



Romans viii. 17. 



PROSPECTS OF 



SER. IS. 



and. "in the hope of eternal life by Jesus Christ 
our Lord;" and that he should at last be able to 
adopt the language of the apostle, under the im- 
pressions of approaching death. H I am now 
ready to be offered, and the time of my depar- 
ture is at hand ; I have fought a good fight ; I 
have finished my course; I have kept the faith; 
henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of 
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous 
judge, shall give to me at that day ; and not to 
me only, but unto all them also who love his 
appearing */* 

Death is only dreadful to those, who are far 
from God, and from " the way of peace :" To 
those, whose defect of principle, or whose viola- 
tion of morals, demonstrates, that they are not 
the " heirs of the kingdom of God.'' They 
" have no hope," because " they are without 
God in the world." 

But death has no such terrors to those who 
believe and obey the gospel. " There is no 
condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus, 
who walk, not after the flesh, but after the spi~ 



» 2 Tim. iv. 6, 7- $. 



SER. 13. FUTURITY. 447 

rit*." " They shall not perish, but shall have 
everlasting life -f." They die, to rise again: 
" They enter into peace : They rest in their 
graves £ Every one of them shall be found in 
his place at the last day. 

" Now may the God of all grace, who hath 
called us unto his eternal glory, by Christ Jesus, 
after that ye have suffered for a while, make you 
perfect, stablish, strengthen, and settle you. To 
him be glory and dominion for ever and ever, 
Amen 



* Rom. viih 1. 
I Isaiah Jvii. 2. 



| St John iii. 1ft. 
§ 1 Peter v. 10. 11. 



SERMON XIV. 

ON THE 

CULTIVATION OF PERSONAL RELIGION. 



JUDE 20. 21. 

/ But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your 
most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, 
keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for 
the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, unto 
eternal life." 

" If a man love me," said our Lord, " he will 
keep my words, and my Father will love him, 
and we will come unto him, and make our a- 
bode with him # ." The state of mind, which 
is the result of the influence of religion, is the 
source both of the purest conduct, and of the 



• St John xiv. 2. 



SEU. 14. PERSONAL RELIGION. 449 

most substantial happiness, of which human na- 
ture is capable. He who preserves on his mind 
an habitual sense of his relation to God, and 
who derives from the will of God both the 
principle and the rule of his conduct, possesses 
the most enviable distinction, as well as the most 
precious enjoyments of this life. The favour of 
God compensates to him every external disad- 
vantage, and enables him. to sustain every exter^ 
nal calamity. 

But every good man has not the same con- 
sciousness of the favour of God, nor has even 
the same man the same reliance on it at every 
time. Our progress in personal religion is not 
uniform, and is certainly far from being equal. 
Our knowledge of ourselves is very different, as 
well as our fidelity in practical duties. 

The state of mind into which vital religion 
introduces us, must be supported and steadily cul- 
tivated, in order to be effectually preserved. The 
spirit of religion, and the consolations derived 
from it, must be cherished and confirmed by the 
means which Christianity prescribes; and these 
we must learn to apply, both with fidelity and 

F f . 



450 



CULTIVATION OF SER. 14. 



earnestness, if " we would keep ourselves in the 
love of God," or enjoy the comfort which ought 
to result from the sense of it. 

The admonition of the text is an illustration 
of this doctrine. The apostle supposes those, to 
whom it is addressed, to be in possession of the 
favour of God, " through the sanctification of 
the Spirit, and the belief of the truth ;" and he 
exhorts them to preserve and to guard their 
state of mind, by a faithful and conscientious ap- 
plication of the means, which this text represents 
in succession : 

1. By a constant recourse to the great objects 
of their faith, from which they derive both their 
motives and their consolations. 

% By the habits of earnest prayer to God, 
animated by their reliance on his Holy Spirit. 
And, 

3. By an habitual confidence in the mercy 
of Christ, steadily supported, till the ends of 
their faith are attained. 

By these means, faithfully employed, and 
sanctified by the blessing of God, the apostle 
supposes the spirit of practical religion to be 
effectually cultivated and maintained. " Build- 



SEit. 14. PERSONAL RELIGION. 451 

ing up yourselves on your most holy faith, and 
praying in the Holy Qhost, keep yourselves in 
the love of pod, looking for the mercy of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, unto eternal life." 

I shall endeavour to illustrate these different 
views of the subject. 

I. In order " to keep ourselves, in the love of 
God/ we are required to have perpetual re- 
course to the great olyects qf our faith ; from 
which we ought to derive both the motives of 
pur conduct, and our personal consolations. 

The faith which we embrace, and the sinceri- 
ty with which we maintain it, rnust lie at the 
foundation of all practical reljgion. We worship 
and serve " one God and Father of all, who is 
above all, and through all, and in us all/' be- 
cause we ascribe to him infinite and immutable 
perfections ; because we believe in liis supreme 
and universal sovereignty ; because we know 
that we shall ultimately account to him for our 
conduct ; and because we are fully persuaded, 
that he is " the rewarder of them who diligent- 
ly seek him. v Every idea of the influence of 
religion depends ultimately on the faith with 



452 CULTIVATION OF SER. 14. 



which we receive these essential doctrines, and 
on the sincerity and stedfastness with which we 
adhere to them. 

In like manner, practical Christianity, while 
it involves, in its substance, our faith in God, and 
our absolute subjection to him, can only be the 
result of the faith of the gospel. We become 
the disciples of Christ, because we believe that, 
as " there is one God, there is one mediator be- 
twixt God and man, the man Christ Jesus;" 
and that he is " the only begotten of the Father," 
" by whom are all things;" that God sent his Son 
into the world, " that whosoever believeth on 
him might not perish, but have everlasting life;" 
that he died to expiate our sins according to the 
Scriptures ; and " to purify to himself a peculiar 
people, zealous of good works;" and that he 
was raised from the dead by the power of God ; 
that he is now " at the right hand of the majes- 
ty on high ;" and " hath the keys of hell and 
death." 

On these facts the church of Christ is built : 
And we are his disciples, when we embrace the 
doctrine which depends on them, sincerely and 
without reserve, as the law of our lives, as well 



SER.14. PERSONAL RELIGION. 



453 



as the foundation of our hopes; not only ac- 
knowledging the authority with which it is ad- 
dressed to us, but earnestly solicitous to make a 
uniform, conscientious, and faithful application 
of it to its practical ends. 

This is the faith, " the most holy faith," on 
which alone practical Christianity can be built; 
and by means of which, " we keep ourselves in 
the love of God." We rest on it our hopes and 
our consolations. We derive from it the great 
animating principle of all our fidelity. 

We shall find the best illustrations of this 
doctrine, by attending to the minute experience 
of those, who make practical religion, and its in- 
fluence on their personal conduct, the chief ob- 
jects of their solicitude. 

How does a man persuade himself, on good 
grounds, that he is in peace with God ? * Not 
by works of righteousness which he has done ;" 
nor by any conviction of his understanding, that 
he is either pure in heart, or free from sin. The 
degrees of personal guilt are as different, as the 
features which distinguish the countenances of 
individual men. But every man who consults 
his conscience, feels, that before God he is a 



454 



CULTIVATION oi* 



SER. 14. 



sinner, and, if he has deliberated dispassionately 
on the subject, that he has no personal resources 
For the expiation of sin. He is bound to repent 
of the sins, which he knows himself to have 
committed. But repentance, after sin, is as 
inuch the indispensible duty of the creature to 
the creator, as his obedience is, to any positive 
precept of the moral law ; and can therefore no 
more create a claim of merit at the tribunal of 
God, for the forgiveness of sins, than a deed of 
charity can, before men, compensate the guilt 
of a flagrant injury i 

Embracing the gospfel, as the foundation of 
his hope and consolation, a man is in peace with 
God, " not by works of righteousness which he 
has done," but by means of his settled and deli- 
berate faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, as " the 
mediatbr betwixt God and man*;" and by 
means of the sincerity and firm resolution, with 
which he submits to his authority, and to the law 
which he has given us f. 

He is in peace with himself, and is assured 
that he is in peace with God, when he proves 



* 1 Tim. ii. 5. Rom. iii. 23— 26. f Galat. ii. 20, 



SER. 14. PERSONAL RELIGION. 455 

his faith by its practical influence on his conduct, 
and on the temper of his mind. He demon- 
strates his interest in the blessings of the gospel, 
by his fidelity in maintaining its spirit and au- 
thority. 

The faith of Christianity, and its power over 
the conscience, is not only the chief principle of 
Christian morals, but the only legitimate source 
from which a good man can derive his internal 
tranquillity. 

How is it then, that a faithful man is enabled 
to preserve his state of mind entire? " Building 
up himself on his most holy faith, he keeps him- 
self in the love of God." He is perpetually re- 
curring to the foundations of his faith and hope ; 
to the sources of consolation on which he relies; 
to the mercy which assures him of peace with 
God; to the grace which is sealed to him by 
the blood of atonement; to the considerations 
by which he ought to guard his fidelity, arising 
from the strict account which he knows he must 
give of his conduct, at the tribunal of God ; and 
to the help by which he believes himself to be 
prepared for every duty, and to be enabled to 
maintain every struggle required of him, His 



456 



CULTIVATION OF 



SER. 14. 



faith is therefore constantly acquiring an encrea- 
sing vigour and confirmation; and by applying 
it steadily to the various departments of his duty, 
he becomes every day purer in his conduct, and 
better assured of his interest in the source of pu- 
rity and love. 

By attending to the situations in which the 
strength of religious principle is most severely 
tried, we shall find the most striking examples 
of the efficacy of the faith, which is steadily 
cultivated for the purposes of practical religion, 
to sustain our courage and to promote our tran- 
quillity. 

The best of men have their hours of despon- 
dency, when their reflections on the imperfec- 
tions of human nature, and on their personal in- 
firmities, are combined with strong impressions 
of the account which they must render to 
God. Their present conduct cannot afford 
them considerations, on this subject, sufficient 
to satisfy their minds. But " their most holy 
faith 5 ' which, on authority on which they 
have learned to rely, assures them of \\ the grace 
which is brought unto us by the revelation of 
Jesus Christ," effectually relieves their apprehen- 



SER. 14. 



PERSONAL RELIGION. 



4,57 



sions, arid both revives their courage, and re- 
stores their tranquillity. "If God be for us, 
who can be against us ? — It is God that justifi- 
cth, who is he that condemned! ? It is Christ 
that died, yea rather that is risen again, who is 
ever at the right hand of God, who also maketh 
intercession for us # ." 

When they suffer most severely, either from 
personal afflictions, or from heavy disappoint- 
ments in the present world, it is the faith of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, and their reliance on the cer- 
tainty of that which they believe, to which they 
immediately recur. By the views and conside- 
rations to which their faith directs them, they 
both adopt the language, and imbibe the spirit, 
of a firm and enlightened resignation. " We 
know that all things work together for good, to 
them who love God;" and, from a deliberate 
reliance on his wisdom, we can commit our- 
selves implicitly into his hands, and teach our 
hearts to say, " The will of the Lord be done." 

When they are exposed to dangerous temp« 
tations, which derive their strength from the 
known tendency, or from the peculiar temper 



* Rom. viii. 31. 33. 34. 



458 



CULTIVATION OF SEIi. 14, 



of their minds, the faith of the gospel reminds 
them, how the Lord said to a disciple whose 
fidelity w r as put to the severest test, " I have 
prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not;" and, 
persuaded that the intercession of the Lord 
avails them also, in the hour of trial, " they 
take to themselves the whole armour of God." 

When they are required, by their peculiar si- 
tuations, to give to the world eminent examples 
of " holy conversation and godliness," or of ac- 
tive virtues and of good works, they derive 
from U their most holy faith," both the princi- 
ple which animates them, and the motives 
which determine their conduct. By " simpli- 
city and godly sincerity •" by purity " unspot- 
ted from the world by the " love which is not 
easily provoked, which vaunteth not itself, and 
which seeketh not its own by the " charity 
which thinketh no evil, which hopeth and be- 
lieveth all things," and which is " the perfect 
bond ;" by earnestness and patience in the good 
works which they have the means of fulfilling, 
they glorify God in this world, and " lay up for 
themselves a good foundation against the time to 



SER. 14. PERSONAL RELIGION. 459 



come, that they may lay hold on eternal life*/ 
They demonstrate, by its practical effects, what 
the faith of the gospel can accomplish, by means 
of those who sincerely embrace it, for the ho- 
nour and advantage of human life; while it is 
the chief, or comparatively the only, solicitude 
which occupies their thoughts, that their talents 
may not be unemployed in their natural sphere, 
and that they may at last be accounted worthy 
to receive this decisive intimation, that their ser- 
vice is accepted, from him who " shall judge the 
quick and the dead ;" "I know your works and 
charity, and service, and faith, and patience;* 
and the last to be more than the first f." 

The defects of human nature adhere to our 
best fidelity in practical duties. But " faith pu~ 
rifieth our hearts," and by " works is faith made 
perfect." 

The faith which supports a good man's 
courage, and animates his labours through life, 
will not desert him when he must close the 
scene. His decline has its consolations, as well 
as the vigour of his life : and he is not afraid of 



* 1 Tim. vi. 19. 



t Rev. ii. 1% 



460 



CULTIVATION OF 



SER. 14, 



death, for he can look with the confidence of 
hope beyond it. When he perceives the last 
and solemn hour approaching, if his faculties are 
entire, " his most holy faith" is the strength of 
his heart: and though he is not destitute of the 
feelings either of a mortal, or of an imperfect, 
creature, he can deliberately prepare for his last 
summons, and believe that he shall c< depart in 
peace," " having seen the salvation of God." 

These different examples represent to us the 
manner, in which a firm believer of the gospel 
is accustomed to apply the objects of his faith 
minutely, to their practical ends. His faith ac- 
quires, by exercise and habit, both strength and 
stability ; and has more and more the command 
of his mind and affections : And, therefore, no 
means more effectual can be represented, by 
which he can cultivate the influence and pro- 
gress of personal religion, or " keep himself in 
the love of God." The application of his faith 
and hope to every department of his duty, and 
to every concern of time and of eternity, ren- 
ders his communion with God perpetual; and, 
effectually prepared by the considerations which 
he derives from the gospel, to which he is con- 



SER. 14. 



PERSONAL RELIGION* 



461 



stantly recurring, both to do and to suffer all the 
will of God, " he grows in grace," and in con- 
formity to the image of the Son of God, being 
" fruitful in every good word and work." 

By attending to the means, by which a good 
man preserves his state of mind, we may readily 
perceive, on the other hand, in what circum- 
stances we relinquish the spirit of vital religion, 
or lose the sense of communion with God. We 
do not " keep ourselves in the love of God," 
when " we live by sight, and not by faith 
when we allow ourselves to receive our leading 
views, or our chief satisfactions, rather from the 
world of sense, than from the objects of our 
faith and hope, or from our fidelity in our pecu- 
liar duties ; and, when our predominant motives 
and resources are taken, not from the spirit or 
the laws of religion, but from the spirit and the 
manners of the world. 

A man, who is no stranger to the faith of the 
gospel, may fall into this state of mind, when he 
is imperceptibly betrayed, through the deceitful- 
ness of sin, to listen to the maxims, or to become 
familiar with the vices of worldly men; when 
he neglects the views and resources, with which 



46% CULTIVATION OF SER. 14. 



religion furnishes him, and, without having re- 
course to them, attempts to find all his personal 
enjoyments in the objects around him ; when he 
ceases to cultivate the hopes and impressions, 
which he derives from religion, and builds no 
longer his tranquillity on " his most holy faith." 

A man may fall into this state of mind, before 
he is aware, and, when he experiences it, he 
has every unhappy consequence to apprehend 
from its progress. The faith of a Christian, and 
the snares of the world, are in perpetual opposi- 
tion to each other: And he who is conscious 
that he has lost much of the spirit of religion, by 
his neglect of the means by which it requires to 
be cultivated, or by his deliberate familiarity 
Avith the manners of the world, with which it 
must ever be at variance, has good reason to lis- 
ten, with deep humiliation and awe, to the ad- 
monition given by our Lord to the church of 
Sardis ; " I know thy works, that thou hast a 
name that thou livest, and art dead. Be watch- 
ful, and strengthen the things which remain and 
are ready to die, for I have not found thy 
works perfect before God. Remember there- 



SER. 14. 



PERSONAL RELIGION. 



463 



fore, how thou hast received and heard, and hold 
fast, and repent*." 

From the views which I have given of this 
branch of the subject, we cannot fail to observe 
the inseparable connexion betwixt the peculiar 
faith of a Christian, and the spirit and substance 
of vital Christianity. Where would be the re- 
ligion of a man, such as I have represented a 
Christian to be, if he were deprived of the pe- 
culiar views and impressions, which he receives 
from his faith in the blood of atonement; in the 
mercy of God, or in the grace which is given 
us, by Christ Jesus ; in the resurrection of the 
Son of God from the dead ; in his perpetual do- 
minion in heaven and earth ; in " the judg- 
ment of the great day;" and in the certain- 
ty and glories of " the Father's kingdom," 
after " the times of the restitution of all things?" 
Independent of these great objects of his faith, 
from what source could a Christian man de- 
rive either his motives or his consolations? Or 
where could he find the weapons of his war- 
fare? Every affection of his mind, as a Christi- 
an, depends on the substance of his faith. Take 



f Rev. iii. 1. 2. 3. 



464 



CULTIVATION OF 



SER. 14. 



this away, and he has neither motives, resour- 
ces, nor affections, to distinguish him from men, 
who find all their happiness in the present world. 

We ought to observe besides, that the spirit of 
this world will never lead men to God, or per- 
suade them, either to seek, or to desire his fa- 
vour. If we are indeed the disciples of Christ, 
it is by the faith of the gospel, and by its living 
power; by the stedfastness, the energy, and the 
purity, which our affections and our whole con- 
duct derive from it; that we either possess this 
distinction, or can preserve it. " We build up 
ourselves on our most holy faith," and therefore 
" we keep ourselves in the love of God." 

Let us now consider, 

II. That good men are represented, in this 
text, as preserving their state of mind, by means 
of the habits of earnest prayer to God, anima- 
ted by their reliance on his Holy Spirit : " pray- 
ing in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the 
love of God." 

The meaning of the language, in this text, is 
explained by the apostle Paul in the eighth chap- 
ter of the epistle to the Romans. " The Spirit al- 
so helpeth our infirmities; for we know not what 



SRR. 14. PERSONAL RELIGION. 



465 



we should pray for, as we ought; hut the Spirit 
itself maketh intercession for us, (or within us,) 
" with groanings (or, with an earnestness) which 
cannot be uttered," (or, which cannot always be 
expressed in words *.) 

The exhortation of the text supposes, that the 
continued habits of earnest prayer, in which good 
men are assisted and animated by the Spirit of 
God, are essential means of their progress in vi- 
tal religion : And that they are of great import- 
ance to preserve the state of mind, which is the 
result of faith and godliness ; both to maintain 
their communion with God, and their sense of 
his favour. 

Our prayers cannot be necessary to explain 
our situations to God, to whom every circum- 
stance which relates to them is intimately known* 
But they are of great importance to ourselves ; 
to preserve on qur minds a perpetual sense of 
our dependence on God • to keep constantly 
open the channel of communion with the Fa- 
ther of our spirits ; and, by means of our ear- 
nestness to obtain the blessings, which are the 



* Rom. viii. 2£j. 



466 CULTIVATION OF SER. 14. 

subjects of our prayers, to cultivate the impres- 
sions and affections, by which the spirit of vital 
religion is supported and confirmed. 

We are not influenced or determined by our 
understandings alone. Our firmest persuasion 
would not be effectual to attain the ends of our 
faith, if it were not constantly assisted by the 
effects of devotion. " The prayer of faith" has 
far more energy, than our most deliberate con- 
victions. When our fervent desires are embo- 
died with the faith, which assures us that our 
prayer will be heard before the throne of God, 
it is then, above all, that " we are filled with 
peace and joy in believing, and abound in hope, 
through the power of the Holy Ghost." 

The effect of earnest devotion may be ascer- 
tained, by means of every subject to which it re^ 
lates. 

We implore the mercy, or the help, which 
our peculiar situations require. If our prayer 
comes from our hearts, we feel, at the moment 
when we utter it, how great our personal weak- 
ness is, and how precious our dependence on 
God; how inestimable the blood of atonement 
to a sinful man; how gracious the pardon 



SER. 14. PERSONAL RELIGION. 



467 



which is freely given, and which shall never be 
recalled; how infinitely consolatory it is to be- 
lieve, that " our heavenly Father will give the 
Holy Spirit to them who ask him." 

The earnestness of our prayer, as often as we 
renew it, is the seal of these important truths on 
our hearts ; and, if we are in the habit of fer- 
vent devotion, it is the pledge of the solicitude 
with which we follow them out through life. 
We rise from prayer, to watchfulness, and to trust 
in God. If we believe that we are heard with 
favour " at the throne of grace we are more 
than ever determined to devote our talents to 
our duties, and " to keep ourselves unspotted 
from the world." 

There is a peculiar energy in fervent prayr 
ers. When we feel more than common anxie* 
ty to obtain particular mercies to ourselves, 
or to those in whom we are deeply interest- 
ed, our solicitude is chastened and sanctifi- 
ed by the faith and confidence with which we 
commend our desires to God, We are pre- 
pared by the affections which our devotion ex- 
cites and confirms, to receive, as the gift of love, 
the blessing which we have implored : or, if 



468 



CULTIVATION OF 



SER. 14. 



that blessing is denied us, we are prepared to 
find the answer given us from heaven, in the re- 
verence with which we are enabled to contem- 
plate the decision of God, as the result of kind- 
ness as well as of wisdom : and, in this case, we 
look back on our prayer, as the means by which 
we have attained the resignation, which teaches 
us to say from our hearts, " good is the will of 
the Lord f. " Not our will, but thine be clone." 

When " the candle of the Lord" ceases " to 
shine on our tabernacle," and " we lie down in 
sorrow," under the pressure of aggravated afflic- 
tion, prayer is our resource and our consolation. 
It is a precious resource, when we feel that the 
hand of God is on us, and come to him with 
faith and submission, as t( partakers of the suffer- 
ings of Christ;" committing ourselves to his 
counsels, and imploring the help which can only 
come from him. Our communion with hea- 
ven is close indeed, when our afflictions are the 
signal for prayer, and effectually teach us to bless 
the name of the Lord; and, when, under the 
heaviest pressures, we find the result of our 
prayers in " the peace of God, which keeps the 
heart and mind by Christ Jesus." 



SER. 14. PERSONAL RELIGION. 



469 



But the admonition of the text does not mere- 
ly relate to cases, in which the earnestness of 
prayer is the effect of extraordinary difficulties 
or calamities. It supposes prayer to be the ha- 
bitual resource, as well as the most salutary em- 
ployment, of a good man, in his usual state of 
mind. He, who makes personal religion the 
business of his life, finds a subject of prayer in 
every thing which interests him. From every 
situation, he looks up to God, as his kind and 
merciful Father in Christ ; as the author of all 
his blessings, whose kindness and forbearance 
have never forsaken him; from whom he de- 
rives every cheering hope and expectation ; to 
whom he is indebted for all the consolations 
which have hitherto supported him ; and in 
whom he feels himself bound to place the most 
unreserved confidence, with regard to all that is 
to come. 

It should require no laboured deduction, to 
convince us of the practical effects of earnest and 
habitual prayer. He, " who lives by the faith 
of the Son of God," and who finds perpetual 
delight and consolation in believing, that Christ 
" appears in the presence of God for us," and 



470 



CULTIVATION OF SElt. 14. 



that " whatsoever we ask of the Father in his 
name Y' we shall receive, is animated by pray- 
er and thanksgiving, in every pure motive, in 
every good work, in every hour of temptation, 
in every branch of his preparation for the happi- 
ness of a perfect world. His persuasion that he 
lives " in the communion of the Son and of the 
Father," gives a charm to every external situation 
in the present life, and sheds a light around its 
worst calamities. He perseveres in his active 
duties with a stedfast resolution, and fulfils 
them with alacrity and zeal, because he is " sanc- 
tified by the Holy Ghost," and " by prayer." 

If any proof were requisite, that these are 
truly the practical effects of earnest and habitu- 
al devotion, we have only to consider the situa- 
tion of those who do not pray : or of those, 
who, from the intercourse and bustle of the 
world, lose the spirit and the ardour of pray- 
er. Their deadened souls, laid open to every 
worldly affection, agitated by every worldly 
interest, conscious of the pernicious impres- 
sion of every strong temptation, are impercepti- 
bly more and more alienated from every object 



■•-*-§t John xvi, 23. 



SER. 14. PERSONAL RELIGION. 471 



of their faith and hope, and have every day less 
dependence on them. They feel, as if every suc- 
cessive period of time served to diminish their 
expectations from God, their solicitude to obtain 
his favour, and their reliance on the hope of sal- 
vation. Thev know much more of the dread, 
than of the awe, of God ; although they are 
most unwilling to examine minutely their re- 
flections on this subject. If they attempt, in this 
state of mind, to pray, it is without persuasion 
or earnestness. If they do not pray at all, they 
are far indeed from " life and peace." 

This representation will apply, in many points, 
to the criminal defection of a Christian, as well 
as to him who is farther still from prayer. But 
the situations of both demonstrate, that without 
prayer, men cannot be in the communion of 
God ; and that, by means of prayer, deadened, 
interrupted, and habitually neglected, a deep 
wound is given to the best affections of tha hu- 
man soul, to its best capacities for active duties, 
and to its most important and most permanent 
interests. 

Whether we have the experience of these 
truths, or only know them to be verified by the 



472 



CULTIVATION OF SER. 14. 



experience of other men, they ought to bring 
forcibly home to our consciences our personal 
obligation, " to watch unto prayer." " The 
prayer of faith" will heal the sickened soul. He 
who " had fallen from his first love," and from 
" his first works," and who returns to God, 
" praying in the Holy Ghost," will find, in the 
sincerity and the fervour of his heart) the signals 
of effectual revival. 

On the other hand, he who " prays without 
ceasing," " according to the grace which is gi- 
ven him," " keeps his heart with all diligence," 
and " goes from strength to strength." The 
vigilance which guards and preserves him, is 
supported by his dependence on God: and his 
faith will not fail, when his heart is faint. " He 
shall have life, and shall have it more abundant> 
ly*," u till he obtains the salvation which is in 
Christ Jesus, with eternal glory f." 

I have still to consider, 

III, That good men are represented in this 
text, as preserving their state of mind, by means 
of an habitual confidence in the mercy of Christ, 

* St John x. 10, t^Tim.ii. If, 



^ER. 14. PERSONAL RELIGION. 473 

steadily supported, till the ends of their faith are 
attained. " Keep yourselves in the love of God, 
looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
unto eternal life." 

In the best state of our minds, we must be 
conscious of our absolute and perpetual depen- 
dence on the mercy of God, without which, as 
sinful and fallible men, we could neither possess 
hopes nor consolations. But, that the awe of 
the infinite majesty of the everlasting God may 
not overwhelm us, the gospel holds out to us 
the mercy of Christ, in whom the human nature 
is united to " the brightness of the Father's glo- 
ry, and the express image of his person $ in or- 
der to give us a perpetual pledge of the kindness 
and tender mercy of God, equally adapted to our 
infirmities, and to the present condition of our 
faculties. 

The exhortation of this text supposes, that, by 
relying on " the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ," 
amidst all the weakness which adheres to us, even 
in our nearest approaches to purity of conduct, 
till we are at last made perfect, in the possession 
of eternal life, " we keep ourselves in the love of 
God," and are able to preserve the sense of it, 



474 



CULTIVATION OF 



SER. 14. 



It is only experience which illustrates this doc- 
trine ; our personal experience, in different situa- 
tions, of the effects of our reliance on the mer- 
cy of Christ, 

When we take a deliberate and dispassionate 
review of the state of our minds, and of our perso- 
nal conduct, we must always be conscious, that, 
in comparison with the means and talents which 
have been given us, we have done little indeed, 
for the advantage of the world, for the substan- 
tial interests of morals or of religion, or for the 
glory of God among mankind. We cannot 
disguise to ourselves our conviction of the duties, 
which we know we have deliberately neglected : 
Nor is it possible for us to forget the situations, 
in which the duties which we have best dis- 
charged before the world, have been either per- 
formed without their proper motives, or polluted 
by motives to which we cannot reconcile even 
our own minds. When we add to these recol- 
lections, our consciousness of the positive errors 
and sins, for which our own hearts condemn us, 
notwithstanding our firmest resolutions, and even 
after our best repentance, it is only our reli- 
ance on " the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ/' 



SER. 14. PERSONAL RELIGION. 475 

which can reconcile us to ourselves, or which 
can afford us satisfactory reasons for believing, 
that we are in peace with God. We look with 
faith and earnestness to Christ, the mediator 
with God for us ; certain of his sympathy, for 
<e he was tempted in all points, as we are tempt- 
ed, though he was without sin." We know that 
" he is touched with the feeling of our infirmi- 
ties # ," and therefore we believe, that he is rea- 
dy to help us, in all our temptations. Our reli- 
ance on his kind and continued compassion re- 
vives our ardour, or supports it, in every good 
work; and effectually persuades us, that God 
hath mercy on us, by the Son of his love. " We 
look to the mercy of Christ," and commit our- 
selves to him 5 and we lift our eyes, with hum- 
ble confidence and hope, " to his Father and our 
Father, and to his God, and our God f 

In the furnace of affliction, we know the full 
effects of our reliance on the compassions of the 
Lord. The trial is severe, and flesh and blood 
will shrink before it, when the external blessings, 
which we most value, are taken away, or our 

* Heb. iv. 15, f Si John xx, 17. 



CULTIVATION OF 



SER. 14. 



means of enjoying them. " Our faith, more pre- 
cious than gold which perisheth, is tried with 
fire*." But "in the midst of the fire, we see 
one like unto the Son of God." We hear him 
say again, what he said to his disciples when he 
left them in the world ; " I will pray the Father, 
and he will give you another comforter, who 
will abide with you for everf." 

We look to the mercy of Christ, and to his 
perpetual intercession for us, in the time of sor- 
row, under the pressure of temptation, when our 
resources or when our spirits fail, when our faith 
is shaken, or when our courage is exhausted. 
The assurance of his kind attention to our in- 
terests, " before the Majesty on high," is the 
pledge of consolations, which will never fail. 
Certain of the efficacy of his intercession, we are 
sure " that God will not forsake the works of 
his own hands J," and that " we are kept by the 
power of God through faith unto salvation 

Good men preserve their state of mind, and 
support their ardour in their peculiar duties, by 
means of their confidence " in the mercy of 



* 1 Peter i. 7. 

% Psalm cxxxviii. S, 



j St John xiv. l6. 
§ 1 Peter i. 5, 



SER. 14. 



PERSONAL RELIGION. 



477 



Christ," through all the successive stages of their 
pilgrimage in this world. " Having loved his 
own, he loves them to the end," and "keeps 
them in the love of God." " They love his 
appearing," and prepare for it. He follows 
them constantly, with his eve of kindness and 
compassion. His mercy sanctifies their depar- 
ture from this world, and fortifies their courage, 
till their last struggle is over. It follows them 
beyond the grave ; and, when they shall hereaf- 
ter stand together before his judgment-seat, 
they shall there find the justice of the Judge, 
tempered with the mercy of the Saviour. Eter- 
nal life will then be their's : AH will then be per- 
fect : and mercy itself will be swallowed up in 
love. 

The admonition which I have endeavoured 
to iHustrate, contains a most important rule, 
which ought to govern our whole lives. 

Personal religion is to be " built up on our 
most holy faith." But " faith without works is 
dead;" and the ends of practical Christianity are 
not attained, if the great objects of our faith and 
hope are not habitually and minutely applied, to 
the various departments of our peculiar duties, and 



478 



CULTIVATION OF 



SER. 14. 



if they are not steadily opposed to all the perni- 
cious influence of the sensible world. The weak- 
ness of human nature will not permit us to rest 
our conduct, either on the clearest convictions of 
the understanding, or on the best intentions of the 
mind. But the prayer of faith, which becomes 
our habit and our resource, will inspire us with 
a fortitude and perseverance in our duties, above 
our natural strength, and with "good hope 
through grace," which will not desert us in our 
greatest struggles. Personal religion is the most 
important interest of human life, and ought to 
be the object of our first solicitude. Our com- 
fort, even in this world, and every estimable qua-* 
lity which we are capable of attaining, depend on 
it. He who is known to make " pure and un- 
dented religion" the chief concern and the indis- 
pensible rule of his life, is not only happy in his 
own mind, but is an object of general confidence 
and esteem, even when his natural endowments 
have not been great. On the other hand, the 
power of vital godliness, not only habitually and 
earnestly cultivated by the faith of the gospel, 
and by the continued intercourse of the mind 
with God, but visibly illustrated by purity of 



WAR 241950 



SER. 14. PERSONAL RELIGION. 479 

conduct, and by the active virtues of a useful 
life, will give splendour and dignity to the most 
conspicuous talents, and happiness to the worst 
conditions of mankind. 

But the effects of religion, in this world, con- 
stitute but a small part of the blessings which we 
derive from it. It is the hope of eternal salva- 
tion " by Jesus Christ our Lord," which raises 
Christianity far above every other object of the 
human mind ; and the means by which we 
attain or even preserve this " blessed hope," are 
entitled to our first and most sedulous attention, 
during the whole extent and progress of human 
life. 

Christianity adds to all our consolations this 
precious assurance, that the imperfection of hu- 
man attainments will not deprive us, either of 
the comfort resulting from the hope of the gos- 
pel, or of the final possession of eternal life. 
If "we keep ourselves in the love of God," 
waiting for his Son from heaven, whom he 
raised from the dead ; even Jesus " who hath 
delivered us from the wrath to come*;" the ten- 



* 1 Thes. i. 10. 



480 CULTIVATION, &C. SER. 14. 

der mercy of our compassionate Redeemer shall 
console us, till we are for ever released from 
our infirmities : And " in him, though now we 
see him not, believing, we shall rejoice with 
joy unspeakable and full of glory V 

* 1 Peter i. 8. 



FINIS. 



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